MAWANA SUGAR LIMITED A COMPANY DULY INCORPORATED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Taxes, which one pays is a small price for civilisation. Various taxes imposed by the local self-Government, commonly known as municipal taxes, are meant for providing better civic amenities in the local area. The irony is that most of us do not want to pay taxes whether it is the general tax or the municipal tax, thus, affecting the development of our country. The moment there is a move to impose a new tax or more people are to be brought in the tax net, it meets with a stiff resistance at every level from all and sundry. Those who are well off and can afford, engage the services of the experts in the field to forestall such an attempt by adopting legal means. The foregone conclusion is that the imposition of new taxes or bringing more people in the tax net, whether it is general taxes or municipal taxes, gets delayed resulting in immense benefit to such persons. Some people even do not take a lesson from the failure of their attempt and it appears that the proverb once bitten twice shy is not meant for them. Undeterred by the failure, they still stick to their belief that they are not liable to pay the tax and to see the long cherished belief fructify into reality, once again explore all the avenues even if they have to approach the Courts of law, not hesitating to take a ground to reopen the well established legal position which has held the field for decades. Present writ petition is one such example.

(2.) In the year 1987, the Municipal Board, Mawana, had sought to impose house tax and water tax on the buildings existing on the petitioner's factory premises consequent upon the State Government's notification dated 16.4.1987, extending the municipal limits. The petitioner challenged the said notification by means of a writ petition and got it stayed in so far as it related to it by this Court, as a result of which the liability to pay the municipal taxes remained in abeyance. The writ petition was ultimately dismissed by this Court on 29.9.2005. The Special Leave Petition filed by the petitioner has also been dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 14.11.2005 on the ground that High Court should not have entertained the writ petition in the first place given the disputed questions of fact involved and granted liberty to the petitioner to raise all the issues in any other appropriate forum. After the decision on the objections and finalisation of the assessments and consequential issuance of bills of demand, the petitioner still nurtured the belief that it is not liable to pay the municipal taxes and, therefore, has again approached this Court raising almost all the pleas which has been raised earlier plus an additional plea of vires of a statutory provision, which additional plea can only be gone into by the High Court and not by the statutory authorities.

(3.) By means of the present writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner, M/s Mawana Sugar Limited, seek the following reliefs :( i) To issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of certiorari quashing the impugned Bills No. 2332 and 2333 both dated 29.10.2005 (Annexure VIII and IX respectively to the writ petition) issued by the respondent No. 3. (ii) To issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of mandamus declaring the provision of Section 161(b) of the U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916 as ultra vires to Article 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. (iii) To issue a writ, order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case and (iv) To award the cost of the petition to the petitioner.