- (1.)IN these several writ applications under article 226 of the Constitution, which I have taken up for consideration together, the legal practitioners or advocates who are entitled to practice in the High Court at Calcutta, have challenged the validity, legality as well as the propriety of the West Bengal State Tax on Professions, Trades Callings and Employments Act, 1979, being West Bengal Act VI of 1979, which was passed by the West Bengal Legislature and received the assent of the Governor and was published in the Calcutta Gazette on the 31st March 1979. The Act in question is hereinafter referred to as the said Act. As I have mentioned before, the applications case by legal practitioners who are advocates entitled to practice in the High Court. As common questions of law are involved in these applications and as there is hardly any scope of any dispute as to facts, I have taken up for consideration all these applications together. I had the pleasure of the arguments of Shri Arun Kumar Dutt, Shri S. R. Banerjee, Shri P. K. Sengupta, Shri Swadesh Bhusan Bhunia, Shri Biswanath Baijpayee, Dr. Debi Prasad Pal, and Shri B. C. Dutt appearing on behalf of the different petitioners in these several writ applications. The Bar Council of India sought for and obtained my leave to intervene in these applications and I had the assistance of Shri R. C. Deb appearing for the Bar Council of India. On behalf of the State Shri Somnath Chatterjee and Shri R. N. Bajoria made their submissions. As I have indicated before, the legality, validity and the propriety of the impugned legislation have been assailed in these applications, to what extent. I can go into the question of the propriety of the said legislation I shall consider at the appropriate time. As I said before, the petitioners are the legal practitioners who are entitled to practice in the Sigh Court. Some of them have very recently been enrolled and joined the profession. Some of them however, have been in practice for a considerable time. There are some in rather unfortunate state of affairs, as we are aware that many in the legal profession, are in rather difficult financial conditions and oven to the extent of receiving monthly monetary assistances from either the Bar Council of India or from other charitable or voluntary organizations. They, all come within the purview of the impugned legislation. The Act in question, as I have mentioned before, was passed by the West Bengal State Legislature.
(2.)BEFORE I deal with the several contentions urged in support of these applications it would be appropriate to refer to certain provisions of the Act in question and the relevant Rules and Notifications. The preamble to the Act states that the Act was an Act to provide for the levy and collection of tax on professions, trades, callings and employments for raising additional resources for the benefit of the State and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The preamble further recites that whereas it was thought expedient to provide for the levy and Collection of tax on professions, trades, callings and employments for raising additional resources for the benefit of the State and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, the Act in question was being enacted. In one of the writ petitions reference has been made to the objects of introducing the said Act. It has been stated that the said object was to provide additional employment benefits as well as to meet the situation arising out of the recent floods in West Bengal. I refer to this fact because one of the contentions, which I shall presently note, has been urged in these applications on this point. The Act extends to the whole of West Bengal and has come into force on and from the 1st April, 1979. Section t 2 of the said Act provides definitions. It may be appropriate to refer to clauses (c), (f), (g) (h) and (j) of section 2 The said clauses are as follows :
" (c) "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 or any establishment as well as the manager or agent of the employer; (f) 'person' means any person who is engaged in any profession, trade, calling or employment in West Bengal, and includes a Hindu undivided family, firm, company corporation or other corporate body, any society, club or association, so engaged but does not include any person who earns wages on a casual basis ; (g) 'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (h) 'prescribed authority' means the authority that may be appointed by the State Government by notification for the any of the purposes of this Act; (j) 'salary' or 'wage' includes pay, dearness allowance and all other remunerations received by any person on regular basis, whether payable in cash or in kind, and also includes perquisites, and profits in lieu of salary, as defined in section 17 of the Income Tax Act, 1961"

(3.)SECTION 3 is relevant and important and provides as follows :
"3. (1) Subject to the provisions of article 276 of the Constitution of India, there shall be levied and collected a tax on professions, trades callings and employments, in accordance with the provisions of this Act (2) Every person engaged in any professions trade callings or employment and falling under one or the other of the classes mentioned in the second column of the Schedule shall be liable to pay to the State Government tax at the rate mentioned against the class of such persons in the third column of the said Schedule : provided that entry 19 in the Schedule shall apply only to such classes of persons as may be specified by the State Government by notification from time to time. "