Notices of rectification and dismissal of appeals ex parte are invalid if not served on all the heirs of the deceased assessee.

B. N. BANERJEE, J.

( 1 ) THE unending competition in ingenuity between the tax-gatherer and the taxpayer renders the application of the income-tax Law increasingly complicated. One such corn-plication requires to be resolved in this rule.

( 2 ) ONE Srimati Padmavati Thakur was an assesses, having some income assessable to tax. For the years 1957-58 to 1961-62, the said Srimati Thakur was assessed to income-tax under Section 23 (4) of the Income-tax Act 1922, in the following manner :--According to the petitioner two of the notices of demand were issued on August 28, 1961, and the remaining three on January 12, 1962. Srimati Thakur appears to have filed five appeals against the five assessments referred to above, before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, 'b' Range, Calcutta. Before, however, the appeals were heard, Srimati Thakur died, on April 17, 1962, leaving her surviving as her heirs and legal representatives-On coming to know the death of the assessee appellant, the Income-tax Department wanted to ascertain from B. T. Thakur (the husband of the deceased assessee and the father of the petitioner) the names of the heirs of the deceased, by a letter dated August 28, 1962. B. T. Thakur replied to that letter, on September 20, 1962, and disclosed the names and addresses of all the heirs and legal representatives of the deceased assessee.

( 3 ) WHILE the appeals were still pending, the petitioner alleges, certain notices under Section 154 of the Income-tax Act 1961 were received by B. T. Thakur above named, on May 1, 1963, wherein it was inter alia, stated that the respective assessments for the years 1959-60 and 1960-61 required to be rectified on account of mistakes apparent on the face of the records and it was proposed to enhance the assessments respectively by sums of Rs. 83. 43 paise and Rs. 83. 39 paise. The said notices were addressed to "mr. B. T. Thakur and others, legal heirs of late Padmavati Thakur". The individual names of the legal representatives, the petitioner says were not mentioned in the notices. By the said notices, the persons notified were called upon to appear before the Income-tax Officer. 'e' Ward, Companies District II, on April 22, 1963. so as to be heard in person or to send beforehand written objections against the proposed rectification. Since the date fixed for hearing was already over, when the notices were received on May 1, 1963, nothing could be done and this fact was brought to the notice of the Income-tax Officer by B. T. Thakur. in his letter dated May 7, 1963. with a request to him not to take action in the matte'.

( 4 ) ALTHOUGH the notices of rectification related to the years 1959-60 and 1960-61, the petitioner alleges, the assessments for the years 1957-58 to 1961-62 were all taken up for rectification and as a matter of fact assessments for the years 1957-58 and 1958-59 were reduced by way of rectification, the assessment for the year 1. 961-62 was left untouched and the assessments for the years 1959-60 and 1960-61 were increased. From copies of the rectification orders, said to have been received by the petitions on November 25, 1963, it appeared that three of the orders were made on June 24, 1963 and one order was undated in the copy. The orders were all addressed to late Padmavati Thakur through legal heirs. The petitioner says that she forgot all about the orders and did not take steps against the said orders of rectification.

( 5 ) IN the mean time, on September 6, 1963, B. T. Thakur above named received a notice dated August 30, 1963, under Section 31 of the Income-tax Act 1922, addressed to "mr. B. T. Thakur and others, legal heirs of the estate of Mrs. Padmavati Thakur", informing him that the date of hearing of the appeals, preferred by the original assessee (Srimati Padmavati Thakur), was fixed for September 18, 1963 and calling upon him to take steps. On receipt of the notice, B. T. Thakur wrote to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, on September 13, 1963. aski

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