RAJNARAIN SINGH Vs. CHAIRMAN PATNA ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE PATNA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The High Court of Patna granted the Petitioner before it leave to appeal under Article 132 (1) of the Constitution on the ground that a substantial question of law relating to the interpretation of the Constitution was involved.

(2.) The appellant is the Secretary of the Rate Payers' Association at Patna. He and the other members of his Association reside in an area which was originally outside the municipal limits of Patna and was not liable to municipal and cognate taxation. On 18-4-1951 this area was brought within municipal limits and was subjected to municipal taxation. This was accomplished by a Notification of that date. By reason of this the appellant and the others whom he represents were called upon to pay taxes for the period 1-4-1951 to 31-3-1952. The Notifications were issued under Section 3 (1) (f) and 5 of the Patna Administration Act of 1915 (Bihar and Orissa Act I of 1915), the appellant claims that the Notifications are delegated legislation and so are bad and prays that sections 3(1) (f) and 5 of the Act which permitted this delegation be condemned as 'ultra vires'.

(3.) In order to appreciate the points raised it will be necessary to go back to the year 1911 when the province of Bihar and Orissa was formed. It will also be necessary to bear in mind that we have to deal with three separate sections in the area which is now called Patna. In order to avoid confusion we will call them Patna City, Patna Administration and Patna Village respectively. It must be understood that this is a purely arbitrary nomenclature adopted by us for the purposes of this judgment and that they are neither so called nor so recognised anywhere else. Their boundaries has not been static but it will be necessary to keep them notionally distinct.