ERIMMAL EBRAHIM HAJEE Vs. COLLECTOR OF MALABAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER Ebrahim Hajee, admittedly an old man of about seventy, has applied by way of a writ of "habeas corpus' for his release from the Central Jail, Cannanore, to which he was committed on 1-6-1954 on a warrant of arrest issued by the Collector of Malabar under Section 48, Madras Revenue Recovery Act, in respect of an income-tax arrear of Rs. 61,668. The warrant under which the petitioner was arrested by the Tahsildar is in accordance with Section 48 and recites that the Collector had reason to believe that Ebrahim Hajee is wilfully withholding payment of these arrears and charges and has been guilty of fraudulent conduct to evade payment of them. Ebrahim Hajee was given no hearing or any opportunity to show cause against the issue of the warrant. Nor does Section 48, Revenue Recovery Act, provide for any procedure by which a defaulter imprisoned under that section can make any representation or file any appeal.

(2.) IN the affidavit filed on behalf of the Collector, who has been made the first respondent, details are set-out of the history of the assessment of income-tax on petitioner who had a grocery business in Cannanore. According to a counter-affidavit by the Commissioner of income-tax, he was assessed in 1943-44 to a tax of Rs. 66,227, in 1945-46 to Rs. 10,752, 1946-47 Rs. 5,583, in 1947-48 Rs. 15,002, and 1948-49 Rs. 4,341. He is alleged to have disposed of substantial property and to have diverted assets from his Cannanore business to an identical business in the name of his sons V.P. Abdul Azeez and Bros., which was started in Tellichery in 1948. We are not of course concerned in the disposal of this petition with the correctness of the assessment which we must regard as final.

(3.) SECTION 48, Revenue Recovery Act, reads as follows: