Dwivedi, J. - (1.) THIS appeal is filed against the judgment of a learned Single Judge allowing the writ petition of the respondent. The Bench of two Judges, by whom the appeal was at first heard, re ferred it to a larger Bench on account of a conflict between two Full Bench deci sions. Hence the appeal is listed before us.
(2.) THE Notified Area Committee of Mohammadabad, the first appellant, as sessed the respondent with a tax of Rupees 281.25 on his circumstances a'nd property. Rs. 250/- was the amount of tax on cir cumstances and Rs. 31.25 on property. An-nexure B to the writ petition suggests that he was carrying on some business and had a house. The tax was assessed on March 18, 1968. This assessment was quashed by the learned Single Judge. Far back in 1872, Mohammadabad beqame a town area. Town areas are now governed by the Town Areas Act, 1914. Section 14 of this Act 'provided for the imposition of certain taxes including a tax on a man's circumstances till a .part of the year 1948. In that year Section 14 was reshaped. The substituted Section mate rially read: "(1) Subjectto any general rules or special orders of the Local Government in this behalf, the taxes which a com mittee may impose are the following: (a) A tax upon rent payable under the provisions of the United Provinces Tenancy Act, 1939, ............ (b) A tax upon' rent received by pro prietors or under-proprietors on ac count of land as denned in S. 3 of the United Provinces Tenancy Act, 1939, ............... (c) A tax upon the assessed rental value of sir and khudkasht land.......... .... (d) A tax on trades callings or profes sions.................. (e) A tax upon a building payable by the owner-..........."
(3.) IT may be -noted that the substituted enactment omitted the tax on a man's cir cumstances. So the State Legislature passed an amending Act (Act No. 23 of 1950) in July, 1950. Section 3 of this Act added Cl. (f) to Section 14 in these terms: "A tax on persons assessed according to their circumstances and property, ........ Provided that such a person is not al ready assessed under Cls. (a) to (e) above." ;