TARA MALIK Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall also dispose of Misc. Petns. Nos. 181 and 192 both of 1974.

(2.) The petitioner in Misc. Petn. No. 40 of 1973 is the owner of Block No. JFG HI forming part of Bungalow No. 9 of Kings-way situated within the limits of the Jabalpur Cantonment. The petitioners in Misc. Petn. No. 181 of 1974 are owners of the building known as Navneet Talkies which is also situated within the limits of the said Cantonment. The petitioners in Misc. Petn. No. 192 of 1974 are owners of the plot of land over which Navneet Talkies stands and which was leased out by them for construction of the cinema building. The petitioners in all these petitions which are filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, pray that the extension of the Madhya Pradesh Nagariya Sthawar Sampatti Kar Adhiniyam, 1964, to Cantonment areas be declared ultra vires of the Constitution.

(3.) The Adhiniyam was enacted by the Madhya Pradesh State Legislature and it came into force on 1st April 1964. Section 1 (2) of the Adhiniyam provides that it extends to the whole of Madhya Pradesh. As stated in Section 1 (4), the Adhiniyam applies to "all urban areas having population of ten thousand and above according to last census which the State Government shall by notification specify." The expression "urban area" as defined by Section 2 (h) means "the area comprised within the limits of a local authority and any other area of commercial or industrial importance having population of ten thousand or above according to last census." The expression "local authority" is defined by Section 2 (e) to mean "a Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council, Notified Area Committee, Town Area Committee or Cantonment Board, as the case may be, constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the law relating to local authority concerned." Section 2 (f) defines "owner" in respect of any land or building or portion thereof as including the person, who for the time being receives, or who would be entitled to receive, rent therefor, if the same were let. In the case of land held on lease for a term of not less than 30 years, the lessee for the purposes of the Adhiniyam is deemed to be the owner of the land. Section 4, which is the charging section, levies a tax on lands or buildings or both situated in an urban area at the rate specified in the table given in the section. Section 5 provides for determination and revision of annual letting value. Section 4-A allows set-off in tax in respect of lands or buildings or both situated in an urban area comprised within the limits of a Cantonment Board, to the extent of tax, if any, payable by the assessee in respect of the lands or buildings to the Cantonment Board under the Cantonments Act, 1924. Section 36 (1) prohibits a local authority, to which the Adhiniyam is made applicable, to impose or recover property tax on the annual letting value of any land or building or both which is subject to tax under the Adhiniyam. Section 36 (2) directs the State Government to pay every year to each local authority, to which the prohibition of Section 36 (1) applies, from the consolidated fund of the State a grant-in-aid equal to 60% of the tax realised in respect of the lands or buildings or both situate within the limits of such local authority after making such deductions on account of collection charges as the State Government may determine. Sub-section (4) of Section 36 provides that nothing in that section is to apply to a Cantonment Board. Section 60 of the Cantonments Act, 1924, which deals with imposition of taxes authorises a Cantonment Board, with the previous sanction of the Central Government, to impose in any cantonment any tax which under any enactment for the time being in force, may be imposed in any municipality in the State wherein such cantonment is situated. The Municipalities in the State are governed by the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1961; Section 127 of which authorises them to impose property tax. Sections 64 to 80 of the Cantonments Act deal with annual value of buildings, incidence of taxation, assessment lists etc. which are matters relating to imposition of property tax on lands and buildings within a cantonment area under Section 60 by the Cantonment Board.