GOPAL NARAIN Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition filed under Art. 32 of the Constitution raises the question of the constitution validity of S. 128(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1916 (U. P. Act No. 11 of 1916), hereinafter called the Act, in so far as it authorizes a Municipal Board to impose all or any of the taxes mentioned therein in any part of the municipality.

(2.) Bareilly is an old City in the State of Uttar Pradesh. In the middle of the 19th century it consisted of small houses situated in congested localities with narrow lanes. At some distance away from the said City area there existed even then a cantonment area. Between the City area and the Cantonment area there was a tract of uneven and undeveloped land. The Municipal Board of Bareilly acquired a part of the said land and, together with some nasul land, developed it at a considerable cost. The newly developed area come to be known as the Civil Lines. The Municipal Board has provided special amenities for the residents of that area. The said facts and the particulars of the amenities provided are given in the counter-affidavit filed on the behalf of the Municipal Board and a map of the Bareilly City and the Cantonment area is also annexed thereto. A glance at the map discloses that the City of Bareilly is divided into three separate blocks - the old City, the Cantonment and the Civil Lines. The Civil Lines area is situated between the old City and the Cantonment. We have no reason not to accept the said facts given in the counter-affidavit as representing the division of the City of Bareilly based on its geographical features and strata of development.

(3.) In the Civil Lines area, which the Municipal Board acquired and developed, the said Board imposed house tax from January 31, 1870. In the year 1916 the Act was passed in order to consolidate and amend the laws relating to municipalities in the State of Uttar Pradesh. The Act came into force on July 1, 1916. After the Act came into force, the old tax was abolished and a new house tax was imposed by the Municipal Board of Bareilly in the Civil Lines area with effect from January 1, 1918. A latrine tax was also imposed with effect from May 25, 1918, but it was replaced by scavenging tax with effect from April 1, 1939. The petitioner, a resident of the Civil Lines area, who owns a house bearing door No. 43 therein, filed this writ petition in this Court for a declaration that S. 128(1) of the Act, in so far as it authorizes the Municipal Board to impose a tax in any part of the municipal area, is void and for the issue of a writ of mandamus against the Municipal Board, Bareilly, directing it not to realize the said house tax and scavenging tax from him. To the said petition, the State of Uttar Pradesh and the Municipal Board, Bareilly, are made respondents 1 and 2 respectively.