Grover, J. - (1.) This appeal by certificate arises out of a writ petition filed by the respondent which is a Society registered under the Bombay Cooperative Societies Act, 1925 challenging the collection of octroi by the appellant which is the Una Nagar Panchayat.
(2.) The appellant is a local body constituted under the Gujarat Panchayat Act 1961, hereinafter called the Act, which came into force with effect from April 1, 1963. Prior to its enactment the Bombay Municipal Act 1901, as applied to Saurashtra, was in force in that region of the present State of Gujarat. Under its provisions the Una Municipality was constituted. It was collecting octroi on commodities which were imported into the Municipal limits of Una under the Saurashtra Terminal Tax and Octroi Ordinance, 1949. Under Sec. 3 of that Ordinance the Government could impose the tax mentioned there-under in the cities and towns specified or included later in Schedule I. One of these taxes was a terminal tax on goods imported into or exported from the terminal tax limits. Octroi as defined by Section 2 (2) included a terminal tax. Section 4 gave the power to the Government to make rules by notification for the purpose of carrying out the purposes of the Ordinance Rules were framed under Section 4 in the Gujarat language. It was provided therein that the collection of Octroi and terminal tax would be done through the Sudhrai of the area entered in the schedule to the ordinance. It is apparent that under the Ordinance it was the State Government which imposed the octroi or the terminal tax in the cities and towns specified in the Schedule and the Sudhrai was only an agency for collection thereof.
(3.) By a notification dated December 12, 1949 issued under the Ordinance the Government of the erstwhile State of Saurashtra included the town of Una in the Schedule to the Ordinance. Thus octroi and terminal tax became leviable in that town on certain commodities imported there. Section 9 of the Ordinance must also be noticed. According to it the Government was to maintain a separate fund in respect of all monies received by it on account of any of the taxes specified in Section 3 for every city or town or local area specified in Schedule I and such fund after deducting therefrom the expenditure incurred in connection with the levy and collection of such tax was to be applied for the benefit of the inhabitants of the city or town or local area for which it was maintained. The purpose of levying the octroi duty or terminal tax under the Ordinance clearly was to add to the revenue of the local body for the benefit of the people residing within the jurisdiction of that particular local body.;