TMI Blog1934 (8) TMI 13X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... taking action against the assessee under Section 34 of the Indian Income-tax Act. 2. It was held by this Court in Commissioner of Income-tax v. Reid (1930) I.L.R. 55 Bom. 312 : S.C. 33. Bom. L.R. 388 (Proctor's case), which was decided at the end of the year 1930, that where a person dies after the commencement of the financial year, but before his income has been assessed for the purpose of income-tax, his estate is not liable to pay the tax. The Amendment Act was passed on September 11, 1933, no doubt, with a view to removing the difficulties pointed out in that case. 3. In the present case the only material facts are that on April 20, 1932, a notice was served on Bai Avabai N. Mehta under Section 22 (2) of the Indian Income-tax ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l Act charges the tax upon every one coming within the purview of the Act who was alive at the beginning of the financial year, but in the case of a person dying before assessment, that liability was inchoate only, and crystallized into an enforceable liability for the first time on the passing of the Amendment Act. It is, therefore, not quite accurate to say that the Amendment Act merely deals with machinery ; it does for the first time impose an enforceable liability. The principle which must always be applied in construing a taxing Act is that the Government must show that the tax sought to be recovered has been imposed in language which admits of no reasonable doubt. The opening words of each sub-section to Section 24B, Where a person ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 4 had no application in the present case. Sub-section (7) of Section 24B makes the estate of a deceased person liable for tax under two heads, first, for tax assessed as payable by such person, and, secondly, for any tax which would have been payable by him under the Indian Income-tax Act if he had not died. It is not easy to see what tax falls under that second head, because the deceased would not have become liable for tax merely by continuing to live ; it would have been necessary to make an assessment of his income. However, whatever the meaning of Sub-section (1) may be, the construction of Sub-sections (2) and (3) (to my mind presents no difficulty. Sub-section (2) deals with the case of the deceased person not having been served with ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rmal case, there is any occasion to introduce the provisions of Section 34, because the estate has not escaped assessment, but has been assessed under the Amendment Act. 6. We, therefore, answer Question No. 1 by declaring that the provisions of Section 24B introduced by the Amendment Act apply only to cases in which death took place later than midnight on September 1C), 1933. Question No. 2 does not arise. There will be no order as to costs. I have assumed that the reference in the Commissioner's questions to Section 24B(2) was a slip, and that it was intended to refer to Section 24B. Sen, J. 7. It seems to me that the questions referred to us have not been accurately framed. The provisions of Sub-section (2) of Section 24B do ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n retrospective operation ? It was held in Commissioner of Income-tax v. Reid (1930) I.L.R. 55 Bom. 312 : S.C. 33 Bom. L.R. 388 that if in a case of this nature a charge was created on the income under Section 3 of the Act, the requisite machinery for assessment and collection of the tax charged was wanting in the Act. The new section has apparently been enacted with the object of providing such machinery. It purports to create a liability to pay the charges arising under Section 3. It is a well-settled rule of law that all charges upon the subject must be imposed by clear and unambiguous language, though such an Act is not to be so construed as to furnish a chance of escape and means of evasion : see Maxwell on Interpretation of Statutes, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... visions of Section 24B of the Act apply only to those cases in which the person, the liability of whose executor, administrator or other legal representative is in question, has died when Section 24B came into operation or at any time thereafter. 9. In view of the above answer, Question No. (2) does not arise, but I may point out that the learned Commissioner himself is doubtful whether it can be said that any income escaped assessment within the meaning of Section 34 of the Act. The year concerns the financial year 1932-33 after a notice had been issued to Avabai under Section 22(2) of the Act calling upon her to submit a return of income showing her income for the preceding year. She died on May 6, and the administrator of her estate f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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