Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 159 – Filing of return by legal heir of deceased – Legal representative is definitely entitled to file return on behalf of deceased predecessor in same manner as deceased individual would have done, if he were alive and claim all benefits of exemption, refund and like as would have been claimed by deceased assessee himself – Liability of legal representative is only to the extent of estate left behind by deceased and not to any personal income or property in hands of legal representative – Provision only enables income in hands of a person, to be properly assessed and entitlements under Income Tax Act, to be enabled to legal representative, in the circumstance of assessee expiring in course of an assessing year – This can apply only to year in which death occurred and prior years if it is permissible under the Act – There is no question of a return being filed for any year subsequent to death – Estate of deceased devolves on legal heirs and any income therefrom is income of successor which would also be assessed to tax in successors hands. (Para 4)

K. Vinod Chandran, CJ. – The writ petition is filed seeking opening of the portal of the deceased father of the petitioner, for the purpose of filing his return, as the legal heir of the deceased father. Rather than looking at the writ petition, which is bereft of the essential facts, we have perused the representation filed by the petitioner before the Income Tax Authority, as produced at Annexure-4. The petitioner’s father, Late Nawal Kishore Prasad was a member of the Indian Administrative Service and retired from the State of Bihar as the Chief Secretary. The petitioner’s father expired on 24.03.2020 and the petitioner’s mother was made the legal heir entitled to file the return of her deceased husband for the assessment year 2020-21, under Section 159 of the Income Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’). The petitioner’s mother also expired on 05.11.2021 and the petitioner filed returns on her behalf for the assessment year 2021-22; as her legal heir under Section 159 of the Act.

2. The petitioner’s contention is that upon his mother’s death, he became the sole legal heir of his father and despite his best efforts, he could not upload the relevant documents in his father’s name, for filing an income tax return for the assessment year 2021-22, as his father’s legal heir. It is contended that the IT portal of the deceased father and the deceased mother have been deactivated and hence, the necessary application for refund could not be filed. The learned counsel for the petitioner, before us, asserts that his father had income in the assessment years 2021-22 and there was deduction made at source as could be seen from Annexure-2. The deactivation of the portal by the Income Tax Department effectively hampers the petitioner’s attempt to get refund of the T.D.S., eligible to his father for reason of his having no income assessable to tax.

3. The learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Department points out that the petitioner has not furnished the required particulars to enable him to seek refund, as the sole legal heir. The legal heirship certificate filed by him, with respect to the deceased father, indicates two other siblings; one a brother and the other a sister. It is the petitioner’s contention that he has only two sisters and that both of them have agreed to the petitioner receiving the refund. This has to be substantiated by a proper legal heirship certificate, which alone could enable the refund as claimed by the petitioner.

4. We are surprised that the prayer made by the petitioner is to permit him to file the income tax returns of his deceased father for the assessment year 2021-22 relatable to the financial year 2020-21; during which period his father was not alive, having expired on 24.03.2020. There can be no income for a deceased person and hence, no return filed for such deceased person. Section 159 of the Act makes lia