PUNCHHI - (1.) THE Judgment of the court was delivered by -
(2.) THIS appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment and order dated 21/5/1981 of the High court of Delhi at New Delhi passed in Letters Patent Appeal No. 121 of 1973, upturning the decision of a learned Single Judge, as a result of which Civil Writ Petition No. 653-D of 1963 stands allowed, and sequelly the demand of Advertisement Tax quashed. The appellant is the New Delhi Municipal Committee. In exercise of its powers under the provisions of S. 188(v) and 199 of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, the Committee-appellant, after following the statutory procedure, framed bye-laws, providing for the control and regulation of advertisements, which inter alia provided as follows: " Bye-laws (1 Every person who erects, exhibits, fixes, paints, carries or retains upon or over any land, building, wall, scores, boarding, structure or vehicle any advertisement within the limits of the New Delhi Municipal Committee and as mentioned in the Chief Commissioner's Notification No. F. 3(56/56-LSG dated 23/1/1958, shall be liable to pay advertisement tax on the same according to the schedule of rates appended to the said notification. This schedule of rates is reproduced in Appendix 'A' to these Bye-laws. (2 No person shall fix up, erect or exhibit any advertisement without paying the entire amount of tax due in advance. (3-(6 * * * (7 The tax shall not be payable on the following categories of advertisements: JUDGEMENT_150_SUPP4_1995Html1.htm (e) Advertisement which relates to the trade, profession or business carried on within the land or building upon or over which such advertisement is exhibited or to any sale or letting of such land or building or any effects therein or any sale, entertainment or meeting to be held on or upon or in the same: Provided that exemption under this item shall apply only to one board displayed by the owner or his agent. (f) Advertisement which relates to the name of the land or building upon or over which the advertisement is exhibited or to the name of the owner or occupier of such land or building. (g)-(h) * * 153 Explanation.- The word 'advertisement' means any word, letter, model, sign, placard, notice, device or representation, whether illuminated or not, in the nature of and employed wholly or in part for the purpose of advertisement, announcement or direction." The writ petitioners before the High court are the respondents herein. The first respondent M/s Allied Motors Pvt. Ltd. carries on business of sale, purchase and repairs etc. of motor cars, Lambretta scooters, and truck chassis and also deals in the sale of Burshane Gas. The second respondent is its Managing Director. The third respondent is an Association of Traders having their business place in the territorial area of the Committee. Respondent 1 exhibits eight neon signboards on its premises, those being: JUDGEMENT_150_SUPP4_1995Html2.htm In view of exhibition of these neon signs, the appellant-Committee raised a demand against the said respondents for payment of advertisement tax. Feeling aggrieved, the respondents moved the High court of Delhi by way of a writ petition challenging the imposition of tax on a variety of grounds. A learned Single Judge, who got to grips with the matter posed three questions for determination, out of whom two relating to the constitutionality of the measure do not survive as they stand dropped, for they were answered against the writ petitioners by the learned Single Judge and those were not raised again before the Letters Patent bench. The third question was as follows: "Whether the Boards displayed by the petitioners are not 'advertisement' boards but merely sign-boards of the items in which the petitioners deal?"
(3.) HOLDING that the boards displayed by the respondents were in the nature of advertisements the learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition. Before the Letters Patent bench the third question got subsided and then came to the forefront claim of the respondents for exemption under clauses (a) of Bye-law (7. The Letters Patent bench accepted the appeal on the interpretation given by it to clause (a) of Bye-law (7 to the effect that the boards displayed by the respondents were purely nameboards, containing no item of advertisement except the trade name of the articles suggested to be offered for sale. This has given rise to this appeal by the Committee as the respondents now stand absolved from payment of tax. Before we garner our minds to discover how certain advertisements are exempted from taxation, it needs to be priorly accepted that those would be advertisements, as covered and conceived of by Bye-law (1. If the act attracting taxation does not come within the scope of 'advertisement' within the meaning of Bye-law (1, the question of providing under Bye-law (7 any 154 exemption from payment of tax on exempted advertisements does not arise. But if the act comes within the scope of advertisement, unquestionably and undeniably, then alone can resort be had to Bye-law (7 to discover whether the advertisement is such a one to which any exemption can be attracted. It is in this light that we see that clause (a) of Bye-law (7, provides that tax shall not be payable on nameboard displayed by the traders on their own premises, provided the board is purely a nameboard and it does not contain any item of advertisement. It is plain therefore that it shall initially be an advertisement but would be exempted from taxation if (i) is displayed by a trader, (ii) on his own premises, (iii) purely as a name board as such and (iv) on purity maintained by not containing any other item of advertisement. That is the pre-amended bye-law with which we are instantly concerned. In contrast clause (f) specifically takes out advertisements which relate to the name of the land or building upon or over which the advertisement is exhibited or relating to the name of the owner or occupier of such land or building. By process of contrast and exclusion, advertisements so exhibited, which relate to the name of the land or building or to the name of its owner or occupier is a category apart and distinct from advertisement by means of nameboards. Even distinct are the advertisements, as conceived of in clause (e) of Bye-law (7, which relate to the trade, profession or business carried on within the land or building upon or over which such advertisement is exhibited or to any sale or letting of such land or building or any effects therein or any sale, entertainment or meeting to be held on or upon or in the same; provided that exemption under this item shall apply only to one board displayed by the owner or his agent.;