Section 503 — Service of notice when family is disrupted or firm etc , is dissolved. Successor to s.283 of the 1961 Act.
Section 503 is in Chapter XXIII — Miscellaneous, which runs from section 499 to section 536.
Sub-section (1) provides that once the Assessing Officer has recorded a finding of total partition of a Hindu family under section 315, notices under the Act about the family's income are to be served on the person who was its last manager, or, if he is dead, on all adults who were members of the family immediately before the partition. Sub-section (2) provides that where a firm or other association of persons is dissolved, notices for the income of the firm or association may be served on any person who was a partner (not being a minor) or a member immediately before dissolution.
A partitioned family and a dissolved firm no longer exist to receive notices, so the section names who stands in their place and makes service on that person effective. Excluding a minor partner and requiring service on all adult ex-members where the last manager has died keeps the recipients to persons who can actually answer for the entity.
Partition or dissolution does not end exposure to notices — they simply come to you personally as former manager, member or partner. For a Hindu family, the trigger is the recorded finding of total partition under section 315, and the primary recipient is the last manager, with all adult former members served only if he has died. For a dissolved firm or association, any one former adult partner or member may be served, so a notice served on one of them is good service for the entity's income.
An Assessing Officer records a finding of total partition of a Hindu family under section 315, and a notice for the family's income afterwards has to be served on the person who was its last manager. If that person is dead, sub-section (1) requires service on all adults who were members of the family immediately before the partition — serving one of them is not enough. A dissolved firm is treated more loosely: sub-section (2) permits service on any one person who was a partner immediately before dissolution, provided he is not a minor, or on any member of a dissolved association, and that is good service for the entity's income. Neither partition nor dissolution puts an end to notices; the section only redirects them to individuals.
In the service of any notice under the Act relating to the income of a partitioned Hindu family or a dissolved firm or association — you meet it as the recipient, in your former capacity as last manager, adult ex-member, ex-partner or member. Sub-section (1) operates only after the Assessing Officer has recorded the finding of total partition under section 315.
notices under this Act in respect of the income of the Hindu family shall be served on the person, who was its last manager, or, if such person is dead, then on all adults who were members of the Hindu family immediately before the partition
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.
