TMI Blog2005 (1) TMI 65X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the late Shri Puran Singh was merely an irregularity and the same did not affect the validity of the reassessment orders - Tribunal was not justified in law in upholding the decision of CIT - - - - - Dated:- 7-1-2005 - Judge(s) : G. S. SINGHVI., JASBIR SINGH. JUDGMENT The judgment of the court was delivered by G.S. Singhvi.- On an application filed by the petitioner, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, Chandigarh (for short, "the Tribunal"), has referred the following question of law for the opinion of this court: "Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in law upholding the decision of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) who had declared the reassessment proce ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me of the late Shri Puran Singh for the assessment year 1979-80. The appeals filed by Hukum Singh and three others were allowed by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) Karnal (for short, "CIT(A)"), on the ground that notices of reassessment proceedings had not been given to two of the legal heirs of the late Shri Puran Singh. Further appeals filed by the Revenue were dismissed by the Tribunal vide its order dated July 3, 1998. Paragraph 5 of that order reads as under: "5. After hearing both the parties-the learned Departmental Representative in support of the assessment order and learned counsel for the respondents through written submissions in support of the consolidated order of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) we are of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at there were six legal heirs in respect of the deceased and not four. In this view of the matter, the decisions relied upon by the Departmental Representative would not apply as these pertained to certain exceptional cases where service on one of the legal representatives was considered sufficient. We also do not find any merit in the argument of the learned Departmental Representative that no objection was raised during the course of the assessment proceedings. In our opinion, this is a legal issue and can be raised at any stage of the proceedings. In the final analysis, we uphold the consolidated order of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)." We have heard Shri Rajesh Bindal, learned counsel for the petitioner and perused the rec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... serving notices upon all the legal representatives was only an irregularity. He accordingly remitted the matter to the Assessing Officer for making fresh assessment after giving notices to all the legal representatives. That order was confirmed by the Tribunal. However, on a reference, the High Court declared the assessment to be a nullity on the ground that all the legal representatives of the deceased-assessee had not been served. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court allowed the appeal of the Revenue and observed: "The Tribunal was correct in holding that non-service of notice under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, to nine out of the ten legal representatives of the deceased S did not invalidate the assessment orders of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
