EAST INDIA HOTELS LTD Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the order and judgement of the Ld. Trial Judge dt. June 9 and 11, 1982 by which he had upheld the validity of the West Bengal Multi-storied Building Tax Act, 1979 (West Bengal Act No, XXII of 1979 hereafter referred to as the said Act). This appeal along with other appeals in which the validity of the said Act was challenged were heard together and we by the judgement dt. May, 19, 1987 (reported in AIR 1987 Cal 372) passed in the case of Bagaria More and Co. Ltd. v. State of West Bengal, held that except in Section in respect of S.25(2) of the said Act all other contentions raised by the Petitioner were rightly rejected by the Ld. Trial Judge and we found that S.25(2) of the said Act is ultra vires. In this appeal the Appellant also challenged the notices of demands by which the Building Tax Officer of the Multi-storied Building Office demanded taxes for the periods 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79 and 1979-80 inter alia, on the grounds that the Building Tax Officer was in error in calculating the covered space and further it was also alleged that the said Building did not come under the purview of the said Act. Other grounds were also advanced on behalf of the Appellant to show that the said demands were illegal and bad in law. The question whether the said building was a Multi-storied building or not or whether the measurement in respect of covered space of the said building was correctly made or not are purely questions of fact which cannot be decided in this proceeding by this Court and that these are questions which could be properly decided on an appeal being filed under S.13 of the said Act before the Appellate Authority. Accordingly after hearing the parties considering facts and circumstances of this case we dispose of the appeal by the following terms :-

(2.) We may make it clear that we have not adjudicated any of the points raised in this appeal excepting what we have decided in the case of Bagaria More and Co. Ltd. v. State of West Bengal in F.M.A.T. of No. 2414 of 1982 decided on May 19, 1987 (reported in AIR 1987 Cal 372).

(3.) This appeal is thus disposed of.