D E MANJANATHA SETTY Vs. STATE OF MYSORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall dispose of both the above writ petitions. The petitioners in these writ petitions challenge the levy of octroi by the Hosnagar Town Municipal Council on the basis of a Notification bearing No. MUN (C) 23(69-70 dated 17-7-1969 published in the Mysore Gazette of 21st August, 1969.

(2.) The second respondent passed a resolution proposing to levy octroi on several articles in their meeting held on 5-12-1966 and that was published by the notification dated 19-12-1966 (published in the Mysore Gazette dated 20-4-1967). After obtaining the necessary sanction from Government, the final notification was published under S. 97 of the Mysore Municipalities Act, 1964 (shortly the Act). That notification reads as follows: -

(3.) The mandate of the section requires that there shall be a publication of all resolutions sanctioned under S. 96 of the Act, with a notice reciting the sanction and the date and number thereof. The imposition of the tax prescribed by the sanctioned resolution would become operative from a date which shall be specified in such notice and which shall not be less than one month from the date of the publication. In other words, the resolution which was earlier passed by the Municipal Council specifying the requirements, like classes of persons, the amount or rate, and the octroi stations as laid down under S. 95 of the Act, if approved by the Government under S. 96 of the Act, with modifications if any, shall be published under S. 97 of the Act. There cannot be a valid imposition of the tax if the publication is not according to the mandatory requirements of the Section. In the impugned notification, there is no reference to any one of the above requirements except mentioning that the Rules for levy of octroi as sanctioned by the Government Order will be given effect to. In our opinion, there is no publication at all as contemplated under S. 97 of the Act.