9911796707
TMI Blog2001 (6) TMI 802X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... respondent not to recover the profession tax from the employees working under its control and to refund the profession tax already collected from the salaries of the employees working in the third respondent. 3.. The brief facts leading to filing of these writ petitions are: The members of the writ petitioners are working in the office of the "Garrison Engineer (I), R D, Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad, the third respondent". They are members of the Military Engineer ing Service (for short "MES") under the over all control of Engineer inChief, Army Headquarters, New Delhi. The members of the petitioners are covered by the Defence Service Regulations. The executive powers of the Government of India with regard to sanction of expenditure towards salaries, etc., are exercised by the President of India, through the Ministry of Defence in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India. The financial powers in respect of MES expenditure are laid down in MES Regulations. The Government of India has issued general rules with regard to expen diture towards the defence services and such rules provide that the persons, subject to the Army Act, are exempted from the tax on profess ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ers to pay any tax under the Act. The learned counsel also contended that though the levy of profession tax was originally provided in the Municipalities or Cantonments Acts, later the consolidated Act was passed by the A.P. Legislature replacing the levy by the local authorities and in its place the State Government is empowered to levy professional tax, for the benefit of the local bodies. Though the provisions of the local authorities Acts were replaced by the Act passed by the State Legislature, still the exemptions that are contemplated under the Regulations framed under the Army Act, 1950, hold good and there fore there is no liability on the members of the petitioners to pay the tax. The learned counsel also referred to the provisions of section 32 as well as section 35 in support of his contention that the profes sion tax levied under the present Act is only for the benefit of the local bodies. Therefore the exemption that is contemplated under the Regulation 288A framed under the Army Act holds good and if so, the members of the petitioners are entitled for such exemption. Hence, the petitioners have sought for the relief of declaration that the respondents 1 and 2 are n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n of the tax that is being levied by the State under the Act. In the absence of any such corresponding provisions in the Act, the members of the petitioners are liable to pay professional tax. 7.. Heard both sides and considered the material on record. 8.. In order to appreciate the rival contentions, it is relevant to extract the relevant provisions of the Act. "Section 2(e): 'Employee' means a person employed on salary or wages and includes, (i) an employee of the Central Government or any State Govern ment to whom the salary is paid either from the Consolidated Fund of India or of a State; (ii) a person in the service of a body, whether incorporated or not, which is owned or controlled by the Central Government or any State Government where the body operates in any part of the State, even though its headquarters may be situated outside the State; and (iii) a person engaged in any employment of an employer not covered by items (i) and (ii) above;" "Section 2(f): 'Employer' in relation to an employee earning any salary or wages on regular basis under him, means the person or the officer who is responsible for disbursement of such salary or wages; and includes the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... all not deduct the tax from the salary or wage payable to such person and such employer or employers, as the case may be, shall not be liable to pay tax on behalf of such person." "Section 31: Power to exempt.The Government may, by noti fication, make an exemption or reduction in the rate of tax payable under this Act by any specified class of assessees subject to restric tions and conditions as may be specified in the notification." "Section 32: Local authorities not to levy profession tax. Notwithstanding anything in any enactment, governing the constitu tion of establishment of a local authority, no local authority shall, on or after the commencement of this Act, levy any tax on professions, trades, callings or employments." "Section 35: Grant to local authorities for loss of revenue.Out of the proceeds of the tax, penalties, interest or other amounts recovered under this Act, there shall be paid annually to such local authorities as were levying a tax on profession, trades, callings and employments, immediately before the commencement of this Act, such amounts on the basis of the highest collections of such taxes, penal ties and interest made by them in any year during th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the following kinds: (i) Municipal or Cantonment taxes on salaries; (ii) Municipal or Cantonment taxes on profession, trades, callings, offices or appointments; (iii) Municipal or Cantonment taxes on animals or vehicles in respect of (a) any animal which such person is required by the regulations of the service to which he belongs to keep; and (b) any vehicle which such person is permitted to keep in lieu of any animal which the said regulations would require him to keep." A perusal of the above Regulation no doubt provides that a person subject to the Army Act and who is compelled by the exigen cies of the Army/Navy/Air Force duty to reside within the limits of the Municipality or a Cantonment is exempted from the taxes, such as taxes on salaries, profession, trades, callings, offices or appoint ments, etc. No doubt this regulation may be of some assistance to the petitioners, as long as the levy that was contemplated under the provisions of the Municipal or Cantonments Acts. By virtue of the enactment of Act 22 of 1987 corresponding provisions in the local authorities Acts, which contemplate levy and collection of profession tax were amended by omitting the same, wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r the exemption contemplated under section 27A. Under the present Act, there is no such provision as stated earlier, granting exemption even with reference to the members of the armed forces of the Union. When once there is no such provision with reference to the members of the armed forces, we are unable to appreciate the contention of the learned counsel that the members of the petitioners are entitled for any exemption. The learned counsel for the petitioner did not bring to our notice any provision in the present Act similar to section 27A of the Maharashtra Act. In the absence of any such provision, the said judgment of the Mumbai High Court is of no assistance to the petitioners. The learned counsel also contended that under regulation 288A the loss on account of the exemption granted in respect of the mem bers of the petitioners would be reimbursed. Therefore, there is no loss either to the State Government or the local authorities. We do not find any merit in this contention also as there is no reference under the regulations to the present Act. 13.. Under the above circumstances, we do not find any merit in the present writ petitions and accordingly they are dismissed. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
