RAZA BULAND SUGAR CO LIMITED RAMPUR Vs. MUNICINAL BOARD RAMPUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal on a certificate granted by the Allahabad High Court. The appellant is a public limited company and owns two sugar factories situate in the city of Rampur. The factories comprise a number of buildings including some for residential purposes also. The Municipal Board of Rampur (hereinafter referred to as the respondent) decided to impose water tax in Rampur as provided under S. 128 (1) (x) of the U. P. Municipalities Act, No. II of 1916 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The procedure for the imposition of tax by the Municipal Board under the Act is provided in Ss. 131 to 135 of the Act. Section 131 provides that when a Board desires to impose a tax, it shall by special resolution frame proposals specifying the tax, persons or class of persons to be made liable, and the description of property or other taxable thing or circumstance in respect of which they are to be made liable, the amount or rate leviable from each such person or class of persons, and any other matter required by the Rules framed by the State Government. The Board has also to prepare a draft of the rules which it desires the State Government to make in respect of the tax, namely, for assessment, collection, exemption and other matters relating to tax, (S. 131 (2)). Section 131 (3) which is important for our purposes reads thus:

(2.) According to the respondent, it followed the procedure provided under the Act for the imposition of the tax and after following the procedure the tax came to be imposed from April 1, 1957 at the rate of 10 per centum of the annual value of lands and buildings. After the tax was thus imposed, the respondent sent notices of demand to the appellant requiring it to pay water tax for the years 1957-58 and 1958-59. This done on October 7, 1958. It may be added that under S. 129 of the Act there are certain restrictions subject to which water tax can be imposed and one of the restrictions is that the tax shall not be imposed, where the unit of assessment is a plot of land or a building, on any such plot or building of which no part is within a radius to be fixed by rule in this behalf for each municipality from the nearest standpipe or other waterworks where at water is made available to the public by the Board. In the present case this limit has been fixed by the rules at 600 feet.

(3.) The appellant objected to the payment of water tax demanded from it, and one of its objections was that it was exempt under S. 129 (a), as there was no standpipe or other water-work whereat water was made available to the public by the respondent within 600 feet of the buildings of the factory, the Central Office of the Govan Colony, except that some buildings outside the main Raza Sugar Factory were within 600 feet.