Monoranjan Mallick, J. - (1.) The writ Petitioners in all these writ petitions have challenged the constitutional validity of the West Bengal Urban Land Taxation Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). All these writ Petitioners have moved these writ petitions after a public notice has been issued by the Government of West Bengal drawing the attention to every owner of land and buildings situated within the urban agglomerations falling within the category 'A' and 'B' as specified in the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, that every, owner is required to pay the urban land tax as well as land tax under the provisions of the West Bengal Urban Land Taxation Act, 1976, as amended by the West Bengal Urban Land Taxation (Amendment) Act, 1983.
(2.) The Respondent; State of West Bengal, have opposed all these writ petitions by filing affidavit -in -opposition in each of these writ petitions. In all these writ petitions as the constitutional validity of the various provisions of the Act have been challenged, they have taken up together for reasons of convenience.
(3.) Mr. Ginwalla, learned Counsel appearing in the writ petition filed by Brooke Bond India Ltd., has challenged the constitutional validity of Ss. 4, 3 and 35 of the Act. He has also urged that the tax imposed by the said Act is unreasonable, confiscatory and expropriator in nature. He has also submitted that Ss. 17, 18 and 19 of the Act providing for payment of development charge and conversion charge is ultra vires, as it is beyond the competence of the State Legislature. He has also submitted that no guideline has been laid down in the Act as to the manner in which the tax is to be determined subject to the upper limit.;