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TMI Blog1969 (10) TMI 70X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ture of the State. Pursuant to the said power, the Rajpramukh promulgated Ordinance 40 of 1949 adopting and applying the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act, XVIII of 1925 to the State of Saurashtra. The Rajpramukh thereafter promulgated the Saurashtra Terminal Tax and Octroi Ordinance 47 of 1949, which was brought into force with effect from August 31, 1949. The object of the Ordinance was to enable the State Government to levy and collect octroi duty in the towns and cities of the State and to pass on the duty so collected by it to those cities and towns until municipalities therein were constituted under the Act and those municipalities made by laws and rules enabling them to levy and collect octroi and other usual municipal taxes. To that end ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uty payable by it for the period from February 17, 1954 to March 28, 1954 and from April 5, 1954 to November 10, 1954, and also a demand notice therefor dated March 9, 1959. The appellant-firm thereupon filed a suit, being Suit No. 186 of 1959, challenging the validity of the rules and bye laws made by the respondent- Municipality on the ground of non-compliance of the procedure laid down in the Act for making such rules and bye-laws and following upon that challenge disputed the legality of the said bills and the demand notice. In the alternative, the appellant-firm contended that the Municipality had maintained under Section 99 of the Act a current account in its name in respect of octroi duty payable by it, but as that account had not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al and the respondent-Municipality could not recover the said duty on the force of the said rules and bye-laws. It accordingly granted the declaration and injunction as prayed. Nonetheless, it made it clear that the notification dated September 10, 1956, deleting the name of the respondent-Municipality from Sch. I to Ordinance 47 of 1949 was conditional in the sense that the Government rules would cease to apply only from the date from which the Municipality's bye-laws and rules would come into force and that since the said rules and bye-laws were illegal and void they could not be said to have been put into force. Therefore, the Government rules under which the respondent-Municipality could levy and collect octroi duty were still in fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rial Court, as also the District Court, were in error in holding that the respondent- Municipality could levy and recover octroi duty from the appellant-firm under the said rules made by the Government. The contention was that the Municipal rules in this behalf having been held to be illegal and the said notification having deleted the name of the respondent-Municipality from Sch., I to Ordinance 47 of 1949, there were no. rules under which the octroi duty could be levied and recovered. The Government rules, which were withdrawn by and under the said notification, could not be revived and no. octroi could be levied or recovered thereunder as they were withdrawn with effect from August 1, 1953 when the Municipal rules, now declared illegal, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ar as they pertained to the respondent Municipality, would cease to operate. The Government rules, however, were to cease to operate as the notification provided from the date the said Municipality put into force their independent by- laws. It is clear beyond doubt that the Government rules would cease to apply from the time the respondent-Municipality brought into force its own bye- laws and rules under which it could validly impose, levy and recover the octroi duty. The said notification did not intend any hiatus when neither the Government rules nor the municipal rules would be in the field. Therefore, it is clear that if the bye-laws made by the respondent- Municipality could not be legally in force for some reason or the other, fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed, must give such information and details as are necessary to enable the Municipality to maintain and to settle it at the interval stated therein. This cannot be done if the person whose account is maintained fails to furnish the necessary details. The section also provides that the amount due at the foot of such account shall be recoverable under and in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VIII, i.e., inter alia under Sections 104 and 105, by presentation of a bill and a demand notice and, in case of default, by distress warrant. The argument, was that the respondent-Municipality, failed to settle the account maintained by it under this section within the time prescribed by Section 99, and that therefore, it became disentitled to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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