Harbans Lal, J. - (1.) THIS order will dispose of Civil Writ Petitions Nos. 7218 of 1976, 519, 2538, 3880 and 3958 of 1977 and 319, 1046, 1241, 1577 and 4733 of 1978, as most of the questions of law and fact arising therein are identical.
(2.) HOUSE tax was levied by the Union Territory Administration, Chandigarh, with effect from October 1, 1976. The legality and validity of the same has been impugned in all these writ petitions under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution mainly on the basis of the 'following two important propositions of law: (1) The then Punjab Government of which the Union Territory Administration of Chandigarh is the successor, after reorganisation in 1966, had given an assurance in 1959 that no taxes including the house tax will be imposed in the city of Chandigarh for 25 years. Consequently, the Chandigarh Administration was estopped from levying -'the house tax under the doctrine of promissory estoppel, and (2) The decision to levy house tax was based on notifications by the Chief Commissioner, and the Chief Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, which were hit by the vice of excessive delegation of legislative powers. At this stage, it is appropriate to enumerate, in brief, the relevant facts as referred to in Civil Writ Petition No. 3958 of 1977, which have a bearing on the dispute.
(3.) AS a result of the historical holocaust rand the consequential partition of the country in 1947, Lahore, the capital of Punjab, was left in Pakistan and the remaining part of Punjab, known as East Punjab, was left without any capital. In order to carry out the day to day administration, all the major offices of the new State of Punjab were shifted to Simla in the first instance. After a good deal of discussion at the highest level, finally it was decided to locate its new capital at the place which is now called Chandigarh. In 1952 the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952, (Punjab Act No. XXVII of 1952) (hereinafter called the Principal Act), was promulgated. Its purpose was, as is clear from the statement of Objects and Reasons, as under: The construction of the new capital of Punjab at Chandigarh is in progress. It is considered necessary to vest the State Government with legal authority to regulate the sale of building sites and to promulgate building rules on the lines of Municipal Bye -laws so long as; a properly constituted local body does not take over the administration) of the city. Under Section 7 of this Act, the State Government) was authorised to levy "such fees or taxes as -it may consider necessary to provide, maintain and continue any amenity at Chandigarh. This Act was amended "by the Punjab Act No, 37 of 1957; The Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) (Amendment) Act, 1957 (hereinafter to be called the Amendment Act), which received the assent of the Governor on November 11, 1957. According to the Objects and Reasons for the promulgation of the Amendment Act, the purpose of the amendment was to "give powers to the Chief Administrator at Chandigarh similar to those vested in the local bodies under the Municipal Act of 1911, which he would i exercise within the capital area of Chandigarh. Section 7 -A was newly added by Section 2 of the Amendment Act, which is reproduced below: 7 -A(1) The Chief Administrator may, from time to time by notification in the Official Gazette, and with the previous approval of the State Government, apply to Chandigarh or any part thereof, with such adaptations and modifications not affecting the substance as may be specified in the notification, all or any of the provision of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, specified in the Second Schedule appended to this Act in so far as such provisions are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. (2) On the issue of a Notification under sub -section (1), the Chief Administrator, shall in relation to Chandigarh or any part thereof, as the case may be, exercise the same powers and perform the same functions under the provisions applied by such notification as a Municipal Committee or its President or Executive Officer or any other functionary of the Committee would exercise and perform if Chandigarh were a Municipality of the first class. (3) While exercising the powers or performing the functions under the provisions of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, applied to Chandigarh by a notification under sub -section (1), the Chief Administrator shall be subject to the control of the State Government and not to that of the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner. (4) The State Government may from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, omit any provision of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, from the Second Schedule or add thereto, any other provision of that Act. (5) Every notification made under sub -section (1) shall be laid before each House of the State Legislature for a period of fourteen days as soon as possible. In the Second Schedule annexed to this Act, some provisions of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 (hereinafter to be called the Municipal Act), were included. A perusal of Section 7 -A and the Schedule makes it evident that the provisions of the Municipal Act included in the Second Schedule could be enforced in the Union Territory, Chandigarh, by the Administrator with the previous approval of the State Government. The other provisions which did not find mention in the Second Schedule could be enforced only if the State Government by a notification included them in the Second Schedule. It may be appropriate to make a specific mention here that sections 61 to 84 of the Municipal, Act relating to the levy of house -tax and the manner and method of levying the same, were not included in the Second Schedule under the Amendment Act. It was only on July 10, 1968, that the Chief Commissioner of the Union Territory, Chandigarh, issued a notification in exercise of the powers under Section 7 -A(4) of the Principal Act, adding sections 61, 62, 63, 81, 84 and 85 of the Municipal Act in the Second Schedule. On July 31, 1968, these new provisions were made applicable to Chandigarh with the previous approval of the Chief Commissioner by means of a notification dated July 31, 1968.;