MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE, LADWA Vs. DARYAT LAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The respondents filed a suit for permanent injunction against Municipal Committee Ladwa to the effect that the said committee had no jurisdiction to impose octroi duty on liquor imported within the limits of the Municipal Committee by the respondents. The learned trial Court held that the Municipal Committee did not order the imposition of octroi duty on liquor in accordance with law. The Municipal Committee went up in appeal. Therein an objection was raised that no resolution had been passed by the Municipal Committee authorising of filing the appeal. This objection prevailed with the lower appellate Court which dismissed the appeal. The Municipal Committee has come up in second appeal before me.

(2.) When questioned about the procedure adopted by the Municipal Committee for ordering the imposition of octroi duty on liquor the learned counsel for the Committee was unable to advance any cogent grounds for enabling me to come to a conclusion that the imposition of octroi duty fell within the ambit of section 61 of the Punjab Municipal Act. Faced with this situation the learned counsel argued that about the imposition of octroi duty, the respondents could have filed an appeal before the authorities mentioned in the Punjab Municipal Act or the rules framed therein and that it was beyond the jurisdiction of the Civil Court to issue a permanent injuction of the instant nature. There is no merit in this plea either. When tax is imposed on a citizen without following the due procedure laid down under law it is open to a civil Court to issue a restraint against the issuance of the levy. Article 265 of the Constitution of India itself lays down that no tax shall be imposed save in accordance with law. When a Municipal Committee imposes a levy without taking recourse to section 61 of the Punjab Municipal Act it cannot be deemed to have imposed the levy in accordance with law. In such a situation it is open to the Civil Court to declare the levy as illegal.

(3.) The finding recorded by the learned lower appellate Court about the competence of the President of the Municipal Committee to file the appeal is also unassailable. Section 35 of the Punjab Municipal Act lays down that only in an emergency the President of Municipal Committee would be empowered to file an appeal which implies that in all other cases, he has to carry the matter before the whole house and can file an appeal only if the members of the Committee pass resolution in that behalf. This was an ordinary litigation and the question of any emergency of filing of the appeal does not prima facie arise in such a matter.