Pawan Verma L/R Of Late Smt. Vidya Verma v. For

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR D. B. Civil Writ Petition No. 9104/2023 Pawan Verma L/R of Late Smt. Vidya Verma, S/o Late Kishan LalVerma, Aged About 52 Years, R/o 181, 1[st] Floor, Ayodhya Marg,Pratap Nagar, Khatipura, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302021 ----Petitioner Versus 1. Income Tax Officer, Ward 1 (3), New Central RevenueBuilding, Bhagwan Dass Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302005.Building, Bhagwan Dass Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302005.2. Central Board of Direct Taxes, North Block, Secretariat,Building, New Delhi, 110001.Building, New Delhi, 110001. ----Respondents For Petitioner For Respondents : Mr. Mahendra Gargieya Advocate with Mr. Hemang Gargieya Advocate and Mr. Peeyush Gargieya Advocate. : Mr. Anuroop Singhi Advocate with Mr. Aditya Khandelwal Advocate. Aditya Khandelwal Advocate. HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. MANINDRA MOHAN SHRIVASTAVA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE BHUWAN GOYAL 09/04/2024 1. Heard. Order 2. The short issue arising for consideration in this case is whetherthe proceedings initiated under Section 148A of the Income TaxAct, 1961 (for short ‘the Act’) by issuing notices under Clause (b)therein, culminating in passing of an order under Clause (d)thereof, would be a nullity as the notices were initially issuedagainst a dead person. 3. On this issue, learned counsel for the parties bring to the noticeof this Court an order dated 27.05.2022 passed by Division Bench of this Court at Jaipur in Shri Radha Mohan Khandelwal Vs.Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax [D.B Civil Writ Petition No.7896/2022] as also another order dated 27.02.2024 passed byDivision Bench of this Court in Legal Heirs of Smt. Sneh LataBhandari Vs. Income tax Officers & Ors. [D.B. Civil Writ PetitionNo. 9985/2023]. 4. After going through the said orders, the legal position is nolonger res integra and it can be declared that notices andproceedings against dead person would be a nullity. 5. In the case of Legal Heirs of Smt. Sneh Lata Bhandari(supra),the Division Bench of this Court has also granted liberty to theDepartment to re-initiate the proceedings under Section 148A(b)and Section 159 of the Act with specific order that the limitationperiod between the filing of the writ petition and till its disposalshall be excluded for the purpose of computation of limitationperiod for initiating such proceedings. 6. Learned counsel appearing for the revenue, relying upon orderdated 22.03.2024 passed by Division Bench of this Court atPrincipal Seat at Jodhpur in the case of Meena V Kumar Vs.Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax & Another (D.B. CivilWrit Petition No. 15115/2022) would submit that the respondentsmay be granted liberty to initiate the proceedings against the legalrepresentatives of the deceased. On the other hand, learned counsel for the petitioner wouldsubmit that even the initial notice which was issued on 08.04.2021against the dead person itself was barred by limitation. 7.Be that as it may, if Respondent no. 1-Department decides toproceed against the legal representatives of the deceased, theywill have the opportunity to assail the same on the ground that itis beyond the period of limitation. 8Writ petition is, accordingly, allowed in the manner and tothe extent as stated above. (BHUWAN GOYAL),J (MANINDRA MOHAN SHRIVASTAVA),CJ MANOJ NARWANI /147