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TMI Blog1968 (5) TMI 55X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ;In section 3 of the Act minerals are defined to include all minerals except mineral oils. Provisions regarding the prospecting licences and mining leases are contained in Sections 4 to 12. Section 13 empowers the Central Government to make rules the regulating grant of prospect of minerals and for purposes connected therewith. By Section 14 prospecting licences and mining leases in respect of minor minerals have been excluded from the operation of Sections 4 to 13 and the authority to make rules in respect of minor minerals has been given to the State Governments under Sections 18 of the Act, which is in these words:--- 15(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for regulating the grant of prospecting licences and mining leases in respect of minor minerals and for purposes connected therewith. (2) Until rules made under sub-section (1), any rules made by a State Government regulating the grant of prospecting licences and mining leases in respect of minor minerals which are in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue in force. 3. The expression minor minerals is defined in Section 3 of the Act in th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment in each district and that, while enhancing the rates of bricks, the element of royalty has been reckoned and placed at Rs. O. 87 per thousand bricks. According to the provisions of the Punjab Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 1964 , Governments is entitled to charge royalty only on that clay which is found in the land wherein mineral rights vest in th Government. You are now requested please to reassess arrears of royalty from all the brick-kiln owners of your district. Those who have extracted clay from the land wherein mineral rights in respect of clay vest in the Government according to Wajib-ul -arz entries. Read with Section 42(2) of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, for the period from 22nd April 1965, up-to-date . Each brick-kiln owner should also be asked to put in formal application on Court -fee Stamp of Re. 1- and deposit application fee of Rs,. 10/- into Government Treasury under Head XXIV Industries Receipts from Minor Minerals for the quantity of clay excavated by them during the period from 22nd April, 1965 up-to-date. For their future requirements of clay, they should be asked to obtain short term permits in accordance with; the provisions jf the Punjab ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wners was held out and the brick-kiln owners concerned were directed to stop further extraction of clay and warned that on their failure to pay royalty from 22nd April, 1965, The matter will be reported to the police for registration of cases under Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code, Being aggrieved by this demand of royalty on brick-earth required for th manufacture of bricks and threat of the non-renewal of their licences to carry on th business of brick-making and prosecution, the various petitioners, who are Court under Articles, 226 and 227 of the constitution challenging the legality of grant of appropriate writs declaring Concession Rules 1964 as ultra vires, and directing the respondents and their recover the royalty or refuse the renewal of their licences for non-payment of the royalty. 8. The contentions raised before us by the learned Counsel for the Various petitioners in challenging the validity of imposition and demand of royalty by the State on the Brick-earth used by them in the course of their business of manufacturing bricks are as follows:-- 1. Brick-earth is not a minor mineral and is thus outside the purview of the Punjab Minor Mineral Concession Rule ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... regulate given to the States under Section 15 of the Act includes the power to charge royalty, and thus Rule 20 of the Punjab Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1964, is perfectly valid; 3. That since the power to regulate minor minerals has been delegated to the State by the Parliament and it has been authorized to frame the necessary Rules thereon, the Rules, including Rule 20 have been made in valid exercise of that power by the State; 4. That the fact that the petitioners are the owners or the lessees of the land in no way makes them the owners of the minerals contained therein, and the property; in the minerals, including the minor minerals, found in the land acquired by them vests in the State, and for exploitation of the same it can issue leases and licenses and charge the necessary royalty: 5. That the Shariat Wajab-ul-Arz relating to the petitioners land clearly go to prove that the minor minerals rights in those lands belong to the State; 6. Even if there be any dispute with regard to such minor minerals rights in the land owned or obtained on lease by the petitioners that dispute cannot be settled in these proceedings under Arts. 226 and 227 of the Constitution ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ners it shall be presumed to belong to the Government. (2) When in any record -of -rights completed after that date it is not expressly provided that any forest or quarry or any such land or interest belong to the Government it shall be presumed belong to the land owners. (3) The presumption created by sub-section (1) may be rebutted by showing- (a) from the record or report made by the assessing officer at the time of assessment, or (b) if the record or report is silent, then from a comparison between the assessment of villages in which there existed, and th assessment of villages of similar character in which there did not exist, any forest or quarry, or any; such land or interest, that the forest, quarry , land or interest was taken into account in the assessment of the land revenue. (4) Until the presumption is so rebutted, the forest , quarry, land or interest shall be held to belong to the Government, 12. Section 41 is not of any assistance to the State as brick-earth is not mentioned therein as one of the minerals that vest in the State. No entry from the record of rights prior to 18th November, 1871 , has been produced in respect of the land occupied by any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... titutional and ultra vires. For proper appreciation of the petitioners' contention, it is necessary to first ascertain the nature of the demand of royalty made from the petitioners. 14. Royalty is not defined either in the Act or the Rules framed thereunder by the Central or the State Government. The meaning of this word has been considered in some judicial decisions, but they are mostly based on different dictionaries. In Roland Burrows' Words and Phrases Judicially defined, Volume IV (1944 edition) at page 605, it is stated: It is a sound maxim of law , that every word ought, prima facie, to be construed in its primary and natural sense, unless a secondary or more limited sense is required by the subject or the context, In its primary and natural sense 'royalties' is merely the English translation or equivalent or 'regalities'. 'Jura regalia' jura regia,'.....' The subject was discussed, with much fullness of learning in Dyke v. Walford, (1848) 5 Moo PC 434, (P. C.) where a Crown grant of jura regalia, belonging to the Country Palatine of Lancaster, was held to pass the right to bona Vacantia,...... It stands on the same footing as t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... payment made for the privilege of removing the articles is in proportion to the quantity removed, and basis of the payment is an agreement. Sjrajdin v. State, AIR 1960 Madh Pra 129. If land is occupied by a person with a right to quarry on payment of royalty such payment being related to the beneficial occupation of th land within the meaning of the term rent, land cess is payable under clause (iii) of Section 74-B. H. R. Rama Rao v. The Collector Chittoor, AIR 1957 Andh Pra 1042, AIR 1948 Mad 197, AIR 1941 Mad 414. 20. Reference may now be made to Corpus Juris Secundum, Volume 77. At page 542 of that book it is stated: Royalty or Royalties. The word royalty is one of varying meanings, and in its primary and natural sense, is merely the English translation or equivalent of regalitates , Jura regalia , jura regia . The term originated England , where it was used to designate the share in production reserved by the Crown from those to whom the right to work mines and quarries was granted, and the most common use of the term today in this country is with respect to mining leases, conveyances, and reservations, and in this connection is treated in Mines and Minerals... ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n with oil and gas leases are to be construed in the ordinary and popular sense; bonus meaning the cash consideration paid or agreed to be paid for the execution of the lease, rental being the consideration for the delaying drilling operations, and royalty being a share of the product or proceeds therefrom reserved to the owner for permitting another to use the property. The word royalty originated in England where it was used to designate the share in production reserved by the Crown from those to whom the right to work mines and quarries was granted. Such is its proper use today in mineral contracts. It is the price paid for the privilege of exercising the right to explore. If that right is granted by lease-contract it is the whole or part of the consideration for the lease. If that right is granted or reserved by a sale, it is the consideration in part or whole of the sale. Royalty in itself cannot be used to designate the fundamental right which is being dealt with but only to indicate the percentage , the price, the rent, the consideration attached to or proceeding out of the right or that may proceed from it during its existence. The royalty depends upon the contin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dvert to some of the Indian decisions, where the word 'royalty' has come up for interpretation. 24. In AIR 1956 Raj 161, Wanchoo, C. J. (as he then was ) while delivering the judgment of the Division Bench on served:-- Royalty is inter alia, a charge by the owner of minerals from those to whom he gives the concession to remove them, and the charge is on production, the rate being fixed according to weight. 25. This was a case under the Rajasthan Minor Minerals Concession Rules 1955. This meaning was accepted by another Division Bench of that Court in Sethi Marble Stone Industries v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1958 Raj 140 and royalty was stated to mean a payment made to the owner for the right to exploit his property and it was observed:-- It is, therefore, indisputable that it would be open to the State as being the owner of the minerals to charge a royalty whether directly by itself or through a contractor. It further seems to us that a royalty may be charged as so much per weight or on the value of the produce. 26. It was held that Rajasthan State could charge royalty at the rates fixed by it. In AIR 1960 Madh Pra 129, after referring to the Wharton's ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ividuals willingly or unwillingly, and the amounts recovered as royalty were merged in the general revenue of the State to be spent for general public purposes. 29. In Ajit Kumar Gurey v. State of Bengal. (Civil Rule No. 433-W of 1963 and connected petitions) , decided on 8th July, 1964, by the Calcutta High Court , Durga Das Baus, J., dealt with the validity of the demand for royalty made under the West Bengal Minor Minerals Rules, 1959. The decision of that case depended upon the determination of the question whether royalty is a tax or an impost within the meaning of Article 265 read with Article 366(28) of the Constitution ,. Without adverting to the real meaning or particular nature of the payment demanded on account of royalty , the learned Judge held that it was a tax or an impost. After referring to the Articles 265 and 366(28) of the Constitution, his Lordship observed:-- I have no doubt that the royalty which is recoverable from the lessee of a mining lease, under Rule 17 (1) (I) of the Rules, before me is an impost, compulsorily leviable by the State Government on all persons liable to obtain a mining lease with respect to minor minerals and would, accordingly, co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he provisions of Article 265 of the Constitution or Section 15 of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957. 33. The petitioner's learned Counsel has vehemently argued before us that though the Patna High Court was right in holding that royalty demanded was in pith and substance a tax, its decision with regard to the validity of the demand is open to challenge, and the rule laid down by Basu, J., in the unreported decision in Civil Rule No. 433-W of 1963 and connected Petns. D/- 8-7-1964 (Cal ) (supra) is correct and should commend itself to this Court. 34. In order to appreciate the various contention raised before us and for proper decision thereon,. it is necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of the Punjab Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 1964. These rules, as their Preamble shows, were admittedly framed by the State Government in exercise of the powers conferred on it under sub-section (1) of section 15 of the mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957. The parliament while enacting the Act in exercise of the powers vesting in it under item 54 of the Union List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution , however, considered ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Government. Rule 34 with which this chapter opens is in these words:-- 34 Applicability of the Chapter. The provisions of this chapter shall only apply to the grant of mining lease in respect of the land in which the minor minerals vest exclusively in a person other than the Government. 41`. Though the mining leases under this Chapter are to be granted by the person in whom the minor minerals vest, provision has been made in Rules 35 to 45 occurring in this chapter prescribing certain conditions to which every mining lease shall be subject. To enable the Government to keep itself informed of the mining minerals do not vest in the Government, th Rules make provisions for submission of certain returns, statements and copies of leases to the Government. Rule 45, with which this Chapter II concludes provides penalty by; way of imprisonment and fine for failure of the lessee to furnish documents, information and returns called for by the Government. Sub-rule (2) thereof then lays down:--- 45(2) If a person grants or transfers or obtains a mining lease or any right, title or interest therein in contravention of any of the provisions of this Chapter , he shall be punishabl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (b) For calculating the royalty the lessee shall submit half-yearly returns for periods ending 30th September, and 31st March in Form 'G'. (ii) The lessee shall pay for the surface area occupied by him at such rates not exceeding land revenue, water charges and cesses assessable on the land as may be fixed by the Government and specified in the lease deed. (iii) The lessee shall also pay for every year, such yearly dead rent within the limits specified in Second Schedule as may be fixed by th Government and if the lease permits the working of more than one minor mineral in the same area the Government may charge separate dead rent in respect of each minor minerals: Provided that the mining of one minor mineral does not involve the mining of another minor mineral: Provided further that the lessee shall be liable to pay the dead rent or royalty in respect of each minor mineral whichever is higher in amount but not both. 45. From Rules 20 and 21 set out above. It will be evident that the payment of the royalty to the Government for removing a minor mineral is made a condition of a mining lease and the royalty is to be paid by the lessee or the holder of the min ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... resources contained therein. In that view of the matter, it is more akin to rent or compensation payable to an owner by the occupier or lessee of land for its use or exploitation of the resources contained therein. Merely because the provision with regard to royalty is made by virtue of the rules relating to the regulation of the mining leases and a uniform rate is prescribed. It does not follow that it is a compulsory exaction in the nature of tax or impost. 46. The Punjab Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1964, also make provision for grant of mineral concession in respect of minor mineral found in the lands in which the minor minerals vest in persons other that the Government. These provisions are contained in Rules 34 to 45 of Chapter III . Rule 34, with which this chapter opens, clearly provides that this chapter shall apply only to grant of mining leases in respect of the land in which the minor minerals vest exclusively in a person other than the Government,. Rule 37 lays down the conditions for such mining leases. The relevant clauses of this Rule may be reproduced below:--- 37 Conditions of mining lease. Every mining lease shall be subject to the following conditi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t. It is true that the petitioners have denied that the Government has any minor mineral rights in the land on which they have set up brick-kilns, but the fact remains that the demand for royalty, by which the petitioners feel aggrieved, is made only in respect of the minor minerals which vest in the Government. Most of the contentions raised on behalf of the petitioners are based on the assumption that royalty is tax and not a fee forgetting that all payments due to the Government cannot be classed under these two heads, and there may be quite a number of demands and payments due to the Government, which are of an entirely different character. For example, rents payable to the Government in respect of leases of its property can neither be classed as tax nor fee. Royalty is more akin to rent. As has been observed earlier, it is charge made by the owner of minerals for granting the privilege of extracting minerals. The distinction between a tax and other charges has been stated by Hugh Dalton in his Public Finance, 4th Edition (1957) thus:- A tax is a compulsory charge imposed by a public authority and, as Taussing puts it. 'The essence of a tax, as distinguished from other ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... irtha Swamiar of Sri. Shirur Mutt, AIR 1954 SC 382, B. K. Mukherjee, J., observed:- We think that a careful examination will reveal that the element of compulsion or coerciveness is present in all kinds of imposition, though in different degrees and that it is not totally absent in fees. This, therefore, cannot be made the sole or even a material criterion for distinguishing a tax from fees. 51. Proceeding further his Lordship said:- The distinction between a tax and a fee lies primarily in the fact that a tax is levied as a part of a common burden, while a fee is a payment for a special benefit or privilege . Fees confer a special capacity, although the special advantage , as for example , in the case of registration fees for documents or marriage licences ,is secondary to the primary motive of regulation in the public interest, vide Findlay Shiras on 'science of Public Finance ' Volume I, page 202, Public Interest seems to be at the basis of all impositions, but in a fee it is some special benefit which the individual receives. As Seligman says, it is the special benefit accruing to the individual which is the reason for payment in the case of fees; in the cas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... njab Rules, I am of the opinion, that it cannot be classed as a 'tax' . Though the rates for royalty are prescribed by Rules and payment of royalty is made a condition of the mining leases, the basis for the demand is still the contract or agreement of lease between the parties; royalty for all mining leases is not to be paid to the Government as such but to the person in whom the minor mineral rights vest; the payment is to the owner of the minor minerals for the grant of privileges to extract minor minerals, the liability being that of the person to whom such privilege is granted and computed on the actual quantity of the mineral extracted. All these characteristics of the impugned demand, in my opinion, clearly take it out of the category of tax . Or 'impost' and thus not hit by Article 265 of the constitution. The petitioner's contention that the royalty was nothing but a tax as it goes to the general revenues of the State is without any basis, as a copy of the memorandum addressed by the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Virka to some brick-kiln owners, a copy of which forms Annexure R-5 to Civil Writ 443 of 1967 clearly states that the royalty is t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ve been squarely laid before His Highness the Nawab of Tonk, who was then the sovereign authority. 58. In Anand Kumar Bindal v. Employees' state Insurance Corporation, AIR 1957 All 136, special contribution payable by an employer under Chapter V-A of the Employees' state Insurance Act was considered to be a tax on the ground that it was a compulsory exaction recoverable in the event of nn-payment as arrears of land revenue, levied by public authority for public purposes and was not payment for services rendered. In Lower Mainland Dairy Products Sales Adjustment Committee v. Crystal Dairy Ltd., 1933 AC 168 payments made to the Adjustment Committee by th farmers selling fluid milk, which were to be apportioned by the Committee among th farmers who ha sold milk products, were held to be indirect taxes. All these cases are clearly distinguishable, and the only rule that emerges from these decisions is that no tax can be levied without the authority of law, the very principle which is embodied in Article 265 of the Constitution. 59. In view of my opinion that royalty payable under the Punjab Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 1964, is not a tax, the argument raised on behalf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the issue of those licences on his paying the annual fee prescribed , it was held that the imposition of a further duty under section 17 read with section 18 on the licence for sale obviously amounted to an amendment of the provisions of Rule 7 and as a rule or a notification prescribing the levy was not published in the official gazette as required by Section 69, it could not be taken to be an order having the for e of law. This case is no authority for the proposition that the word 'law' as used in Article 265 means only an act of legislature and not a rule or regulation made by a competent authority. 62. In Damodaran v. State , AIR 1960 Ker 58, it was held that as essential powers of legislation cannot be delegated, the legislature cannot be delegate its function of laying down legislative policy in respect of a measure and its formulation as a rule of conduct, but it must declare the policy of the law and the legal principles, which are to control any given case and must provide a standard to guide the officials or the body in power to execute the law. It was further observed in that case that the essential legislative function consists in the determination or choic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an authority for the position that the said statute to be valid must give a guidance to the said authority for fixing the said rates and that guidance cannot be judged by; stereotyped rules but would depend upon the provisions of a particular Act. To that extent this judgment is binding n us. But we cannot go further and hold, as the learned Counsel for the respondents asked us to do, that whenever a statute defines the purpose or purposes for which a statutory authority is constituted and empowers it to levy a tax that statue necessarily contains a guidance to fix the rates; it depends upon the provisions of each statute. 64. Their Lordships repelled the argument that the doctrine f constitutional and statutory needs would afford reasonable guidelines for the Government to fix the rate and that the principles laid down by the Court in Calcutta Corporation 's case, 1965-2 SCR 477= (AIR 1965 SC 1107) (supra) , would apply. Dealing with the question of delegation , they quoted from their earlier judgment in Vasantlal Magambhai v. State of Bombay, (1961) 1 SCR 341= (AIR 1961 SC 4) (at Pages 356 and 357 ) (sic) and observed (at Page 439 of 20 STC )= (at P. 1901 of AIR ) : ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d very drastic, but they do not include the power of levying upon any man payment of money which the food Controller must receive as part of a national fund and can only apply under proper sanction for national purposes. However, the character of this payment may be clothed, by asking your Lordships to consider the necessity for its imposition, in the end it must remain a payment which certain classes of people were called upon to make for the purpose of exercising certain privileges, and the result is that th money so raised can only be described as a tax the levying of which can never be imposed upon subjects of this county by anything except plain and direct statutory means . 69. In R. M. D. C. (Mysore) Private Ltd. v\. State of Mysore AIR 1962 SC 594, a case arising out of the Mysore Lotteries and Prize Competitions Control and Tax Act 1951, it was held that by passing a resolution as to control and regulation of prize completions, the Mysore Legislature had not surrendered to the parliament the power to tax. These decisions, in my opinion , do not warrant the conclusion that the authority given by the parliament to the State Government under Section 15 of the Act does not e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ch also contained a provision for payment of royalty were kept alive by sub-section (1) of the Section 15 till Punjab Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1964, could be framed. This question was considered at length in AIR 1965 Pat 491 (supra) , where Mahapatra, J., observed as follows:-- Admittedly , before 1957 , when the Mines Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act was enacted, the State Government had the power to prescribe rules for regulating the extraction of minor minerals, vide Section 8, The Mines Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act. 1948, Rule 4 , Mineral Concession Rules, 1949. Royalty was being collected for minor minerals also, So was the position before the Constitution came in 1950. In that context, if the Act of 1957 did not specifically express anywhere the intention to abolish imposition of royalty in respect of minor minerals , it has to be taken that the Parliament took appraisal of the existing law and usage and delegated all powers in that connection to the State Government in respect of minor minerals , it has to be taken that the Parliament took appraisal of the existing law and usage and delegated all powers in that connection to the State Governm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aised by all the learned Counsel for the different petitioners that Section 15 of the mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development ) Act, 1957 (hereinafter called the Act ) does not empower the State Government to ask for royalties is hardly tenable. Under Entry No. 54 of list I in Seventh Schedule of the constitution it is the parliament which has the power to make legislation for regulation of mines and minerals development to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the union is declared by parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest. Under clause (e) of Section 3 minor minerals means building stones, gravel , ordinary clay, ordinary sand other than sand used for prescribed purposes, and any other mineral which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette declare to be a 'minor mineral' . By a notification of the Central Government of 1st June, 1958, 'brick earth' has been declared to be a 'minor mineral' and under section 15 of the Act, it is the State Government which may by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for regulating the grant of prospecting licences and m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uld have been made clear in Section 9. As stated in Section 9, royalty is paid in respect of a mineral removed by a lessee from the leased area. It is to be noted that sub-section (2) of Section 15 specially saves the rules which had been in existence before the commencement of the Act . As stated in sub-section (2):--- Until rules are made under sub-section (1) any rules made by a State Government regulating the grant of prospecting licences and mining leases in respect of minor minerals which are in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue in force. It is not in dispute that before the Punjab Minor Mineral Concessions Rules, 1964 (hereinafter called the Rules) were made on 25th of April 1964, there were in existence the Punjab Minor Mineral Rules of 1934 and there was a provision in the Rules that the Collector could charge royalties at the rate s specified. As emphasised by Gurudev Singh, J., Chapter II of 1964 Rules deals with grant of mining leases in respect of land in which the minerals vest in the Government, while chapter III, from Rule 34 to Rule 45, deals with grant of mineral concessions in respect of minor mineral in respect of the l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... jab-ul-Arz is to be examined in every case to find out whether the property in the minor mineral vests in the State Government. As held in ILR 1966 (1) Punj 166, the jurisdiction of the Civil Court to decide the rival claims of the parties relating to ownership of the mineral rights in the land does not appear to be barred by any provision of law and any party wanting a decision on this point can institute a suitable action according to law. The State Government itself has not claimed royalty on the minor minerals which are not ordered by it. In the last analysis, it is not for this Court to determine disputed questions of title and wherever the right of the Government is controverted it will have to be established in an appropriate Court that the property in minor mineral does in fact vest in the Government. 79. Looked in the perspective that the royalty is to be charged at specified rates in respect only of minor minerals vesting in the State Government and only when the brick-earth is being used, it cannot be said that it is in the nature of a tax, In the words of Mr. Justice B.K. Mukherjea in the Supreme Court decision of AIR 1954 SC 282 :--- A tax is a compulsory exacti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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