TMI Blog1978 (8) TMI 187X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of his plan, completed his building. In due course the building was allotted a holding number and was assessed to municipal tax. The petitioner is paying holding tax and other taxes with effect from 1-1-1972. 2. On 21-10-74 the petitioner received a notice from opposite party No. 2 that the latter accompanied by the Municipal Engineer would make a joint inspection of his building on account of an objection filed by one R.K. Biswal D/-3-5-74, that the petitioner had, in constructing the septic pits of his latrine, encroached upon the objector's portion of the sweeper's passage of 3 ft. width in between the house of the petitioner and of Dr. Gour Mohan Biswal. Thereafter, opposite party No. 2 served a provisional order under S. 273-A of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ite party No. 2 similarly admits that he did not hear the petitioner on his show cause while confirming his provisional order under Section 273-A of the Act. The petitioner, therefore, has prayed for quashing Annexures 10 and 11 and Annexure-12. 3. The first point canvassed is that the petitioner is entitled to be given an opportunity of being heard by the Municipal Council on his memorandum of appeal and as that appeal has been disposed of without affording him such opportunity, Annexure-11 and the consequent intimation of the order (Annexure-12) are bound to be quashed and the Municipal Council should be directed to rehear the appeal after giving him an opportunity to canvass his points before it. Mr. Mohapatra for the opposite parties, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... stice should apply to a given case must also depend to a great extent on the facts and circumstances of that case. 4. A writ of certiorari will, indeed, be issued to quash Annexures 11 and 12 if the Municipal Council which was discharging its quasi-judicial function in disposing of the petitioner's appeal is found to have acted in breach of principles of natural justice or decided the appeal without giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard. The appellant in his appeal memo, a copy of which was produced before us by the learned counsel for the opposite parties, just stated his grounds without elaborating upon them or explaining them in detail and it is really difficult to appreciate them without assistance of the petitioner or hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Council in disposing of his appeal without acceding to the petitioner's ex press request to allow his counsel to re-present his case. For these reasons An- nexure-11 and consequentially Annexure-12 are liable to be quashed. In view of the order which we are going to pass, it is not necessary to decide the prayer of the petitioner for quashing the other annexures. 5. In the result, a writ of certiorari be issued quashing Annexures 11 and 12 and directing opposite party No. 1 to rehear the petitioner's appeal after giving him an effective opportunity of hearing, that is to say, by giving him an opportunity to address the Council either personally or through his Advocate. The writ petition is, accordingly, allowed, but there will be no or ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|