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TMI Blog1981 (2) TMI 200X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onus Act 1965, by Sec. 32(iv) of that Act, which provides that I nothing in the Act shall apply to employees employed by an establishment engaged in any industry carried on by or under the authority of any Department of the Central Government or State Government or a Local Authority. It appears that for about ten years prior to 197374 bonus was paid to the employees of the Delhi Development Authority but it was stopped thereafter on the advice of the Ministry of Law. The employees questioned the stoppage of the payment of bonus by filing Civil Writ Petition No. 1139/79 in the Delhi High Court. The High Court allowed the Writ Petition and the Union of India and the Delhi Development Authority have preferred this appeal, after obtaining special leave of this Court under Art. 136 of the Constitution. The expression 'Local Authority' is not defined in the payment of Bonus Act. One must, therefore, turn to the General Clauses Act to ascertain the meaning of the expression. S.3(31) defines Local Authority as follows: Local Authority shall mean a Municipal Committee, District Board, Body of Port Commissioners or other authority legally entitled to, or entrusted by the Government ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... autonomy may not be complete and the degree of the dependence may vary considerably but, an appreciable measure of autonomy there must be. Next, they must be entrusted by Statute with such Governmental functions and duties as are usually entrusted to municipal bodies, such as those connected with providing amenities to the inhabitants of the locality, like health and education services, water and sewerage, town planning and development, roads, markets, transportation, social welfare services etc. etc. Broadly we may say that they may be entrusted with the performance of civic duties and functions which would otherwise be Governmental duties and functions. Finally, they must have the power to raise funds for the furtherance of their activities and the fulfillment of their projects by levying taxes, rates, charges, or fees. This may be in addition to moneys provided by Government or obtained by borrowing or otherwise. What is essential is that control or management of the fund must vest in the authority. In Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Birla Cotton, Spinning Weaving Mills Delhi Anr., Hidayatullah, J., described some of the attributes of local bodies in this manner: Lo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he objects of the authority as set out in Sec. 6 are to promote and secure the development of Delhi according to plan and for that purpose to have the power to acquire, hold and dispose Of land and other property , and to carry out building, engineering, mining and other operations, to execute works in connection with supply of water and electricity, disposal of sewage and other services and amenities and generally to do anything necessary or expedient for purposes of such development and for purposes incidental thereto . Sec.7 requires the Authority to carry out a civic survey of, and prepare a master plan for, Delhi. The master plan is to define various zones into which Delhi may be divided for the purposes of development and indicate the manner in which the land in each zone is proposed to be used (whether by the carrying out thereon of development or otherwise) and the stages by which any such development shall be carried out. The master plan may also provide for any other matter which is necessary for the proper development of Delhi. Sec.8 provides for the preparation of zonal development plans and Sec.8(2) prescribes what a zonal development plan may contain or specify. S ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r or from any other source. The fund is required by S.23(2) to be applied towards meeting the expenses incurred by the Authority in the administration of the Act and for no other purposes. Sec. 24 enjoins a duty on the authority to prepare a budget in respect of the financial year next ensuing showing the estimated receipts and expenditure. Copies of the budget are to be forwarded to the Central Government. Sec. 25 requires the accounts of the Authority to be audited annually by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Sec. 26 requires the Authority to prepare a report of its activities and submit the same to the Central Government. Sec. 27 provides for the constitution of pension and Provident Funds. Sec. 28 empowers the authority to authorise any person to enter into or upon any land or building with or without assistance of workmen for the purposes specified in the Section. Sec. 29 provides for penalties for persons undertaking or carrying out development in contravention of the master plan or zonal development plan or without permission, approval or sanction required by Sec. 12. Sec. 30 provides for the making of an order of demolition of a building where development h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Code. Sec. 52 enables the Authority to delegate any power exercisable by it under the Act except the power to make regulations to such officer or local Authority as may be mentioned in the notification. Sec. 56 empowers the Central Government to make rules and Sec. 57 enables the Authority, with the previous approval of the Central Government to make regulations consistent with the Act and the rules made thereunder to carry out the purposes of the Act. Every rule and every regulation made under the Act is required to be laid before each House of Parliament by Sec. 58. Sec. 59 empowers the Central Government to dissolve the authority if it is satisfied that the purposes for which the authority was established have been substantially achieved so as to render unnecessary its continued existence. We see that the Delhi Development Authority is constituted for the specific purpose of 'the development of Delhi according to plan'. Planned development of towns is a Governmental function which is traditionally entrusted by the various Municipal Acts in different States to municipal bodies. With growing specialisation, along with the growth of titanic metropolitan complexes, legislatu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bmission of the learned counsel was that the fees collected under Sec. 12 of the Act and the charges levied under Sec. 37 of the Act did not part-take the character of tax but were mere fees which were the quid pro quo for the services which were required to be performed by the Delhi Development Authority under the Act. We were referred to Hingir-Rampur Coal Co. Ltd. Ors. v. The State of Orissa Ors. We are unable to agree with the submission made on behalf of the respondents. In the first place when it is said that one of the attributes of a local authority is the power to raise funds by the method of taxation, taxation is to be understood not in any fine and narrow sense as to include only those compulsory exactions of money imposed for public purpose and requiring no consideration to sustain it, but in a broad generic sense as to also include fees levied essentially for services rendered. It is now well recognised that there is no generic difference between a tax and a fee; both are compulsory exactions of money by public authority. In deciding the question whether an authority is a local authority, our concern is only to find out whether the public authority is authorised by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... velopment Authority is constituted for performing one of the several functions which a local authority may perform. That the local authorities performing other functions are referred to as 'local authorities' in the Act by which the Delhi Development Authority is created, while the Delhi Development Authority is referred to as the Authority, is no ground for holding that the Delhi Development Authority is not a 'local authority' as defined by Sec.3(31) of the General Clauses Act. The Delhi Development Authority is endowed with all the usual attributes and characteristics of a 'local authority' and there is no reason to hold that it is not a 'local authority'. Another submission of the learned counsel which was pressed upon us was that every statute dealing with municipalities and providing for their supersession and/or dissolution invariably provided for reconstitution of the municipality after a stipulated period whereas dissolution in the case of the Delhi Development Authority meant a complete extinction of the authority since the Act did not provide for its reconstitution. Our attention was drawn to the municipalities Acts of various States. W ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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