KUMILY GRAMA PANCHAYAT, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY (SPECIAL GRADE) Vs. TRIBUNAL FOR LOCAL SELF INSTITUTIONS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The aforesaid writ petitions are materially connected in respect of tax assessment made by the Panchayat against the party respondents in W.P.(C) No.7892 of 2010, order of the Tribunal for Local Self Government Institutions, Thiruvananthapuram in R.P.No.23/2009 dated 25.04.2009 and the reliefs sought for by the petitioner in W.P.(C) No.40920 of 2016 with respect to non-receipt of tax by the Panchayat. Therefore, I heard them together and propose to deliver a common judgment.

(2.) W.P.(C) No.7892 of 2010 is filed by the Panchayat challenging Ext.P5 order of the Tribunal for Local Self Government Institutions, Thiruvananthapuram, in R.P.No.23/2009, whereby the revision was allowed and the decision dated 15.12008 of the Standing Committee for Finance of the petitioner Panchayat, and the consequential order dated 30.01.2009 of the Secretary, petitioner Panchayat are set aside. The Secretary of the Panchayat was further directed to make fresh proper assessment of the buildings, by taking into consideration the assessment of other similar and nearby situated buildings also.

(3.) It is an admitted fact that, the tax in respect of the buildings in the said writ petition was assessed on the basis of Rule 4 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Building Tax and the Surcharge thereon) Rules, 1996. The contention advanced by the Panchayat is that, the Panchayat is not liable to assess the building tax on the basis of the assessment made to a nearby building. However, the assessment is based on Rule 4 of the aforesaid Rules. As per the Rules specified above, a building is to be assessed on the basis of the rent collected for the building and in the said writ petition, respondents 2 to 8 are the owners of a hotel building having 43 rooms, and the Panchayat assessed tax on the said establishment on the basis of the annual rent they collected. Therefore, the case of the Panchayat is that, the rent collected from similarly situated establishments cannot be taken into consideration for collecting tax, since rent varies from establishment to establishment, depending upon the nature of the business and other factors.