Bal Raj Tuli, J. - (1.) THIS petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenges the constitutional validity of some of the provisions of the Haryana Land Holdings Tax Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), which was published in the Haryana Government Gazette (Extraordinary) dated April 27, 1973. By notification dated August 30, 1973, issued by the Governor of Haryana, in exercise of the powers conferred by Sub -section (3) of Section 1 of the Act, the Act was brought into force with effect from that date. However, the Haryana Land Holdings Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 1973, amended Sub -section (3) of Section 1 as a result of which the Act came into force on June 16, 1973. The Governor of Haryana, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 13 of the Act, made the rules called the Haryana Land Holdings Tax Rules, 1973, (hereinafter referred to as the Rules), which were published in the Haryana Government Gazette (Legislative Supplement) dated Novembre 13, 1973. The Haryana Land Holdings Tax (Amendment) Ordinance (No. 1 of 1974) added Section 5A to the Act, omitted Sub -section (2) of Section 11 and substituted Schedule 1 to the Act by a new Schedule. Lastly, on August 30, 1974, the Haryana Land Holdings Tax (Second Amendment) Ordinance (No. 5 of 1974) was promulgated by the Governor of Haryana which substituted Clause (i) of Section 2 and Section 3 of the Act by new provisions.
(2.) THIS petition had been filed before the Haryana Ordinance No. 5 of 1974 was promulgated and, therefore, its provisions could not be challenged. It has been heard along with many other similar writ petitions. All the counsel for the writ -Petitioners prayed for time to amend their petitions so as to challenge the provisions made by the Ordinance but we have permitted them to argue the points without formally amending the petitions. The cases have thus been argued at length by the learned Counsel for the parties on all the aspects of the Act but no arguments have been addressed as to the invalidity of any rule. All the amendments made by the Ordinances in the Act have been brought into force with effect from June 16, 1973, which is the date on which the Act came into force and, therefore, all the provisions of the Act, as amended to -date, have to be considered as being in force with effect from June 16, 1973. Before dealing with the merits of this petition, I may point out that there are 136 Petitioners who have filed this joint petition but none of them has given the particular facts of his or her case and the provisions of the Act have been challenged in the abstract without indicating how those provisions affect their rights in their land holdings. The provisions of the Act have been challenged as violative of Article 14 of the Constitution on all imaginable and hypothetical grounds, whether they in fact exist or not. In my view, before a petition challenges the vires or the constitutional validity of an Act, it is his duty to state the facts of his own case and to plead how the provisions of the impugned Act affect his fundamental or legal rights so as to enable the Court to pronounce on the validity of those provisions. A person, who is not in any way affected adversely by the provisions of an Act, has no locus standi to challenge them pro bono publico. We have waived this rule and decided to hear all these petitions together so as to facilitate the decision of more than eight hundred writ petitions that have been filed in this Court challenging the vires of the Act but it should not be taken as a precedent for future cases.
(3.) BEFORE dealing with the arguments of the learned Counsel, it will be useful to set out the relevant provisions of the Act. The statement of objects and reasons reads as under: - - Statement of Objects and Reasons. The State Government levied different charges under the various Acts to supplement its income realised as land revenue. Some of these charges were (i) Surcharge, under the Punjab Land Revenue (Surcharge) Act, 1954; (ii) Special Charge, under the Punjab Land Revenue (Special Charges) Act, 1958; (iii) Additional Surcharge, under the Haryana Land Revenue (Additional Surcharge) Act, 1969; and (iv) Cess on Commercial Crops, under the Punjab Commercial Crops Cess Act, 1963, and so on. This was done obviously to claim increased share of produce of land for the State, from the landowners who had been the direct beneficiaries of the huge investments made by the State in various developmental activities, viz., irrigation projects, rural electrification to facilitate multiplica -cation of minor irrigation, Agricultural University and other facilities to cultivators, etc. (2) With the passage of time it has been felt that the collection of all these charges was not only cumbersome for the Revenue agency which had to maintain separate accounts under various heads; but it was equally cumbersome for the cultivator also. To set right this unsatisfactory state of affairs, it has been decided to consolidate all such levies into a single Tax to be known as 'Land Holding Tax'. (3) The Central Govennment had appointed a committee known as (Raj Committee') some time back to suggest measures so that income from the land revenue, etc., is increased substantially in view of the undoubted increases in agricultural production and in the context of reasons given above in para 1. This committee made various recommendations of which the salient features are that (a) for the purpose of collection of any land tax there should be an element of progression; and ''(b) the 'unit holding' should be the family holding. An attempt has now been made to incorporate both these concepts in the proposed Bill to the extent found feasible in the prevailing conditions in this State. The net result is that the new tax, known as 'Land Holding Tax' is proposed to be levied in the State and this would replace the various taxes, cesses, etc., indicated above and other levies. Hence this Bill. The statutory provisions, as amended to date, which are relevant for the decision of the various points raised in these cases are the following: Section.2(d) 'family' means husband, wife and their minor children, or any two or more of them; Explanation - -A married daughter shall not toe treated as a. child; 2(g) 'land holding' shall have the meaning assigned to it in Section 3; 2(h) 'land holding tax' means the tax levied and charged under -Section 5 and the same shall hereinafter be referred to as the tax; 2(i) 'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 2(j) 'Schedule' means a Schedule appended to this Act; and (k) all other words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887, or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, shall have the meanings assigned to them in either of these Acts. Section 3. For the purposes of this Act, 'land holding' means the aggregate of all land, in a particular estate, owned by a person or family. Section 5. (1) There shall be levied and charged annually on each land holding, a tax, of various classes of land as specified in Schedule I, at the rates specified in Schedule II: Provided that no tax shall be levied and charged on land which is liable to special assessment under Section 59 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, or the Punjab Land Revenue (Special Assessment) Act, 1955. (2) The rates specified in Schedule II shall continue for a period of thirty years: Provided that the rates may be reduced up to twenty -five per centum by the State Government, from time to time, by notification. (3) During the period the tax is levied and charged under Sub -section (1), the land shall not be liable to payment of land revenue by way of General Assessment under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, or the payment of local rate under the Punjab Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads Act, 1961. (4) For the purposes of calculating the tax on a land holding, where it comprises of two or more classes of land, the land of various classes shall be so placed in different slabs, that the land of the highest or the next below class or classes is placed in the first slab, and then the land of the next below class or classes is placed in the second slab and the remaining land in the third slab. Section 6. The tax chargeable under Section 5 shall be payable by a landowner in two equal half yearly instalments unless otherwise prescribed for any estate or group of estates. Section 7. (1) The Assessing Authority shall, in the manner prescribed, cause to be prepared, checked and displayed a list in respect of the tax payable on land holding containing/inter alia, the following particulars, namely: (a) name of landowner; in case of family, names of land -owners; (b) khasra number of land; (c) class of land; (d) area of land; (e) rate of tax leviable; (f) amount of tax payable; and (g) amount of tax payable by a landowner or by each of the landowners, if he is a member of the family. (2) Any person having any objection in regard to any entry in the list prepared under Sub -section (1), may, within a period of fifteen days, file objections to the Assessing Authority. (3) The Assessing Authority shall dispose of the objections in a summary manner at a prominent place in the estate at a specified date and time to be notified in the manner prescribed. The objector may appear before the Assessing Authority and make oral submission in support of the objections if he so desires. (4) The list prepared under Sub -section (1) shall accordingly be approved or notified and the same shall be announced at the spot. (5) The amount of tax levied on a land holding, on the basis of the list prepared under Sub -section (4), shall not be varied as a result of inheritance, transfer or otherwise till the list is revised on the 1st day of May of the following year. Section 8. (1) Any person aggrieved by an order of the Assessing Authority made under Sub -section (4) of Section 7 may, within a period of thirty days from the date of such order, prefer an appeal to the Assistant Commissioner in such form and manner as may be prescribed: Provided that the Assistant Commissioner may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of thirty days if he is satisfied that the Appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. (2) The Assistant Commissioner may pass such order on appeal as he thinks fit. (3) Any person aggrieved by an order of the Assistant Commissioner made under Sub -section (1) may, within a period of sixty days from the date of the order, file a revision petition before the Commissioner so as to challenge the legality or propriety of such order and the Commissioner may pass such order as he may deem fit. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing subsections, the Financial Commissioner may, suo motu, at any time, call for the record of any proceedings or order of any authority subordinate to him for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or propriety of such proceedings or order and may pass such order in relation thereto as he may deem fit. Provided that no order shall be passed to the disadvantage of any person unless he has been afforded an opportunity of being heard. Section 9. (1) An authority under this Act may, either of his own motion or on the application of the party interested, review, and on so reviewing, modify, reverse or con -firm any order passed by himself or by any of his predecessor in office: Provided as follows: - - (a) When an Assessing Authority or Assistant Commissioner proposes to review any order, whether passed by himself or by any of his predecessor in office, he shall first obtain the sanction of the Assistant Commissioner or Commissioner respectively; (b) an application for review of an order shall not be entertained unless it is made within ninety days from the date of passing of the order; (c) an order shall not be modified or reversed unless the affected party has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard; and (d) an order against which an appeal has been preferred shall not be reviewed. (2) No appeal shall lie from an order refusing to review any order. (3) No appeal or application for revision or review made by any person under this Act shall be entertained by the competent authority unless the amount of tax demanded has been paid by such person. Schedule I to the Act enumerates the various classes of the land in the districts of Haryana and Schedule II prescribes the rates of land holding tax and is as follows: SCHEDULE II Rates of Land Holding Tax [Section 5(1)] 1. In the case of Class I land specified in Schedule I, comprised in the land holding, at the following rates: (a) seventy paise per 0.05 hectare for the first one hectare; (b) one rupee per 0.05 hectare for the next four hectares; (c) one rupee and thirty -five paise per 0.05 hectare for the remaining land. 2. In the case of Class II land, specified in Schedule I, comprised in the land holding, at the following rates: (a) sixty paise per 0.05 hectare for the first one hectare; (b) ninety paise per 0.05 hectare for the next four hectares; (c) one rupee and twenty paise per 0.05 hectare for the remaining land. 3. In the case of Class III land, specified in Schedule I, comprised in the land holding, at the following rates: - - (a) forty paise per 0.05 hectare for the first one hectare; (b) fifty paise per 0.05 hectare for the next four' hectares; (c) sixty paise per 0.05 hectare for the remaining land. 4. In the case of Class IV land, specified in Schedule I, comprised in the land holding at the following rates: (a) twenty -five paise per 0.05 hectare for the first one hectare; (b) forty paise per 0.05 hectare for the next four hectares; (c) fifty paise per 0.05 hectare for the remaining land.;