K T HARINDRANATH Vs. AITO MANANTODY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner in both these cases is the same. By these petitions, he seeks to quash four orders of assessment made under the Agricultural Income Tax Act 1950 by the Agricultural Income Tax Officer, Manantody for the assessment years 1965 66 to 1968 69 both inclusive.

(2.) The only contention pressed by counsel for the petitioner is that the income assessed in these cases is not agricultural income as defined in S.2(a) of the Act as the lands from which the said income was derived are not lands either assessed to land revenue in the State or subject to local rate assessed and collected by officers of the State as such. Admittedly the income assessed arose from unsurveyed lands; and the tax payable under the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961 in respect of the said lands has not been assessed or collected. Income derived from land "which is used for agricultural purposes and is either assessed to land revenue in the State or subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the Government as such" would alone be agricultural income as defined in the Agricultural Income Tax Act. The respondent held that under the Kerala Land Tax Act, every land in the State subject to the exceptions provided thereunder, is assessed to land .revenue, and that the income derived from unsurveyed lands is also agricultural income, though the tax payable in respect of such lands had not been determined or collected.

(3.) The only question for decision is whether unsurveyed lands in respect of which, the tax payable under the Kerala Land Tax Act has not been assessed or collected are lands "assessed to land revenue in the State" within the meaning of this expression used in the definition of agricultural income. S.5 of the Kerala Land Tax Act is the charging section; and it provides that subject to the provisions of the Act there shall be charged and levied a tax called "basic tax" on all , lands of whatever description and held under whatever tenure. The rate of tax is fixed at an uniform rate by S.6 of the Act, subject to certain qualifications mentioned there in. The word ''assess" has got different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Chamber's 20th Century Dictionary gives the following meanings: