(1.) Whether a room attached to the residential house of an Advocate, which he uses as his study/office can be exempted from determination of plinth area under Sec. 6 of the Kerala Building Tax Act, 1975 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') is the short question that comes up for consideration in this Writ Appeal.
(2.) Brief facts relevant for disposal of this appeal are as follows : Appellant, an Advocate by profession, is the owner of a residential building situated in the 6th respondent Panchayath. He had constructed the said building pursuant to and in accordance with Ext.P1 building permit issued to him by the Panchayath. Subsequent to the construction, an assessment was carried out by the competent authority and the appellant was served with an Order dtd. 21/10/2013 assessing building tax at an amount of Rs.10,000.00 which had a luxury tax component of Rs.6,000.00 for the period 2012-2013. The said luxury tax was computed measuring the plinth area of the building as 292.07 Sq.Mtrs. Appellant disputed the measurement of plinth area and the consequent computation of luxury tax. His principal objection to the measurement was that a room in his residential building situated on the ground floor towards the western side, which he proposes to put to use a study/office ought to have been exempted by the assessing officer while measuring the plinth area of the building. He contends that inclusion of the said room in the measurement militates against the mandates of Sec. 6 of the Act. Contending so, the appellant filed an appeal before the 3rd respondent challenging the measurement and consequent computation of luxury tax. The said appeal was dismissed by the 3rd respondent vide Ext.P2 Order. A revision against Ext.P2 was attempted before the 2nd respondent, which too was dismissed by Ext.P4 Order. Aggrieved by Exts.P2 and P4 Orders, appellant had filed W.P.(C) No.41644 of 2017, which was dismissed by the learned Single Judge challenging which, this appeal is filed.
(3.) We have heard Sri.Suraj Kumar R., the learned counsel appearing for the appellant. We have also heard the learned Government Pleader appearing on behalf of respondents 1 to 5 and the learned Standing Counsel for the 6th respondent Panchayath.