JODHPUR CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS SOCIETY Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner No. 1 is a society of Chartered Accountants registered under the provisions of the Rajasthan Societies Registration Act, 1958. According to the petitioners the society has been formed inter alia with the object of espousing and advocating the cause of the profession and its members and also to represent them before the Authorities and Courts. Petitioner No. 2 is a Chartered Accountant and President of the Society and filed this writ petition for himself and for and on behalf of the society and all its members.

(2.) THE State government of Rajasthan has introduced the Rajasthan Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 2000 in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on 30. 03. 2000, while inter-alia, invoking and giving the declaration under Section 3 of the Rajasthan Provisional Collection of Tax Act, 1958, proposed to enact the Rajasthan Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings & Employments Act, 2000, to provide for the levy and collection of tax on Professions, Trades, Callings & Employments in the State of Rajasthan.

(3.) IN pursuance of the Rajasthan Provisional Collection of Tax Act, 1958 (Act No. 23 of 1958), it is declared that it is expedient in public interest that this Act No. 12/2000 shall have immediate effect under the said Act. IN the statement of Objects and Reasons it is stated that in order to increase the resource base, a tax on professions, trades, callings and employments is proposed to be imposed as an instrument for additional resource mobilisation. The terms `calling', `employee', `employer', `person', `profession', `salary' or `wage' and `tax' have been defined under Section 2 (c), 2 (g), 2 (h), 2 (l), 2 (o), 2 (p) and 2 (q) of the Act respectively, which are reproduced as under: "2 (c) "calling" - includes usual occupation, vocation, business or trade of a person; 2 (g) "employee" means a person employed on salary or wages; and (i) a Government servant receiving pay from the revenues of the Central Government or any State government or the Railway Fund; (ii) a person in the service of a body, whether incorporated or not, which is owned or controlled by the Central Government or any State Government, where the body operates in any part of the State, even though its headquarters may be outside the State; (iii) a person engaged in any employment of an employer, not covered by items (i) and (ii) above; 2 (h) "employer" in relation to an employee earning any salary or wages on regular basis under him means the person or the officer who is responsible for disbursement of such salary or wages and includes the head of the office of any establishment as well as the manager or agent of the employer. 2 (l) "person" means any individual or association or body of individuals and includes a Hindu Undivided Family or Joint Family, a firm, a company whether incorporated or not, a co- operative society, a trust, a club, an institution, an agency, a corporation, a local authority and a Department of the Central or the State Governments, engaged actively or otherwise in any profession, trade, calling or employment in the State of Rajasthan, but does not include any person who earns wages on a casual basis; 2 (o) "profession" means the occupation which one professes to be skilled in and by which a person mainly earns his livelihood; 2 (p) "salary" or "wage" includes pay or, dearness allowance and all other remunerations received by any individual on regular basis, whether payable in cash or kind and also includes perquisites and profits in lieu of salary, as defined in Sec. 17 of the INcome Tax Act, 1961 (Central Act No. 43 of 1961), but does not include bonus in any form, and on any account or gratuity; 2 (q) "tax" means the tax on professions, trades, callings and employments levied under this Act. "