BACCHU SINGH Vs. MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER, RAMANUJGANJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution for a writ of certiorari to quash a resolution of the Municipal Committee, Ramanujganj (respondent 1) dated 19 February 1960 authorising imposition of octroi tax and the sanction accorded thereto by the State Government (respondent 3). The petitioner has also prayed for a writ in the nature of prohibition or mandamus directing the Municipal Committee to forbear from imposing, levying or collecting any octroi tax

(2.) THE petitioner resides and carries on business within the limits of Ramanujganj Municipality and is also a voter for the purpose of electing members of the Municipal Committee, Ramanujganj, which is a body corporate constituted under the provisions of the Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922 (hereinafter called the Act). At the relevant time the Committee had twelve members, including the President (respondent 2) and the two Vice -Presidents. By two resolutions dated 29 July 1958 and 3 January 1959, the Committee resolved to impose, under Section 66 (1) (e) of the Act, octroi tax on all animals and goods, which would be brought within the limits of the Municipality for the purpose of sale, consumption or use within those limits, and, having approved the draft rules relating to the rates, assessment and collection of the tax, forwarded a copy of the resolutions and the draft rules to the State Government for publication in the Madhya Pradesh Gazette as required by Section 67 (2) of the Act and Rule 1 made thereunder. These were duly published in the Madhya Pradesh Gazette dated 28 August 1959. Thereafter, by a resolution dated 3 October 1959, the draft rules were confirmed on the statement of the President that no objection to, or suggestion for modification of those rules was received. However, the committee met on 24 October 1959 and 27 October 1959 to consider certain objections which had been received but not placed before the Committee on 3 October 1959. The two meetings had to be adjourned because the President was not present. Even so, it was resolved on 27 October that the operation of the resolution dated 3 October 1959 would remain suspended Until the omission to place the objection before the Committee was considered and decided. At the meeting held on 21 December 1959, the President declined to disclose why he did not place before the Committee the objections which he had received before 3 October 1959. Then, on 13 February 1960, a meeting of the Committee attended by nine members unanimously resolved to consider the objections on 19 February 1960. At the meeting held on the last -mentioned date, eleven members were present. The objection that the tax was likely to have adverse effect on the local market in view of the nearness of another market -only two furlongs away -in Bihar State was accepted as valid by six out of the eleven members. Two of them were neutral. Only the remaining three voted in favour of imposition of the tax. The President ruled that, since five of the six members voting against imposition of the tax were traders, who would be prejudicially affected by the tax, their votes were contrary to the provision of Section 34 -B of the Act and so liable to be discarded. Accordingly, taking the view that there were three votes in favour of imposition of the tax as proposed and only one vote against it, the President declared that the Committee, by a majority, affirmed the proposal to impose the tax. In due course, a copy of the resolution dated 19 February was sent to the State Government who, on 3 October 1960, sanctioned the proposed rules under Section 67 (5) of the Act and directed that the rules would come into operation from the date of their publication in the Madhya Pradesh Gazette [20 October 1960].

(3.) THE main argument against the validity of the resolution dated 19 February 1960 is that the votes of five out of the six members, who voted against it, were illegally discarded under Section 34 -B of the Act. That Section reads as follows: