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TMI Blog1995 (4) TMI 300X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appellants in Civil Appeals No. 597/75 598/75 have then- cinema theatres situated at Rajnandgaon town of Durg District. Appellants in Special Leave Petition No.7553/80 have their cinema theatres situated in Raipur town of Raipur District. Appellants in Civil Appeal No.665/81 and 667/81 have got their cinema theatres situated in Indore town. Appellant in Civil Appeal No.666/81 has its cinema theatre located in Ujjain town, while appellants in Civil Appeal No.668/81 have their cinema theatres in Bhopal town. It is not in dispute that apart from being situated in the concerned towns of Madhya Pradesh governed by the relevant provisions of the Municipalities Act or the Corporations Act, as the case may be, these theatres are also situated within the territorial limits of Janapada Panchayats functioning under the Panchayats Act. Appellants contend that once cinema taxes are imposed on cinema theatres by concerned local authorities they cannot be taxed by Janapada Panchayats by way of theatre tax. This contention was highlighted before the High Court in writ petitions filed by these writ petitioners. This common contention was rejected by the Division Bench of the High Court which too ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n 3(1) the State Government may, by notification, establish a Gram Sabha for a village or a group of adjoining villages having population of 1000 or more. As per Section 10(1) for every Gram Sabha there shall be a Gram Panchayat constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Chapter IX deals with Janapada Panchayats. As per Section 103(1) the State Government may by notification divide a district into blocks. Section 104 is relevant for our present purpose along with its proviso. It is, therefore, extracted in extensio:- 104. Incorporation of Janapada Panchayat. -(1) For every block,there shall be Janapada Panchayat having jurisdiction over the block: Provided that, unless otherwise expressly provided in this Act, every Corporation, Municipality, Town Area, or Notified Area shall with respect to the functions which a Municipal Corporation, a Municipal Council, Town Area Committee, or a Notified Area Committee discharges under the Municipal Law from a separate administrative area. Chapter X deals with functions of Janapada Panchayat. Sub-section(l) of Section 130 lays down that subject to the provisions of this Act and subject to general or special orders ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e administrative units. It is located in Chapter XVIII dealing with miscellaneous matters. The said section is also material for our present purpose. Hence it is reproduced in extensio. 376. Certain areas to form separate administrative units - (1) Unless otherwise expressly provided by or under this Act, every local authority established or constituted under the Municipal Law shall, with respect to the functions which such authority discharges under such law, form a separate administrative unit. (2) Nothing contained in Chapter XV shall apply to any area within the jurisdiction of a local authority established or constituted under the Municipal Law. Chapter XIX deals with establishment of Gram Sabha for areas ceasing to be municipalities, notified area or town areas. Section 377 deals with the effect of establishment of Gram Sabha for local area which ceases to be Municipal Committee. It lays down when any local area ceases to be a municipality, a notified area or a town area by virtue of a notification issued under the Municipal Law and immediately following such ceasation a Gram Sabha is established under Section 3 for such area, then, as from the date of the esta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the, inter alia, ground of double taxation. Krishna Iyer, J. speaking for the Court held: (SCC p.144, para 4) There is nothing in Article 265 of the Constitution from which one can spin out the Constitutional vice called double taxation (Bad economics may be good law and vice versa). Dealing with a somewhat similar argument, the Bombay High Court gave short shrift to it in Western India Theatres. Some undeserving contentions die hard, rather survive after death. The only epitaph we may inscribe is: Rest in peace and don't be reborn! If one the same subject matter the legislature chooses to levy tax twice over there is no inherent invalidity in the fiscal adventure save where other prohibitions exist. It may be mentioned that it is easy to visualise that on a cinema theatre situated within a local area the concerned Municipal Council or the Corporation, as the case may be, may impose cinema tax as permissible under the Municipal Act but on the same theatre entertainment tax can be imposed by the State Govt. in exercise of its separate legislative power and there would be no occasion for the cinema owner to submit that the theatre is subjected to double taxation. Learned co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y has to function as a separate administrative area for discharging its own functions under the Municipalities Act it cannot be urged that the taxing powers of the Janapada Panchayat for that area as flowing from Section 157 is excluded. There is no such express ouster of taxing power of the Janapada Panchayat for any area falling within its block where any local authority is discharging its functions under its own Act. The only express ouster is found in Section 376(2) which clearly excludes applicability of Chapter XV to area falling within the jurisdiction of a local authority established or constituted under the Municipal Law. If the Chapter XIII regarding taxing power of Janapada Panchayat were also to be excluded for such an area, there would have been a similar provision in sub-section (2) of Section 376 excluding the applicability of Chapter XIII also to any area within the jurisdiction of local area established under the Municipal Law. In the absence of such exclusion, the legislative intention appears to be clear that the taxing power under Chapter XIII as conferred on Janapada Panchayat for imposing any tax within the territory of the block under its jurisdiction is not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... taxes levied by Janapada Panchayat will form part of Janapada Panchayat Fund which has to be utilised for discharging the statutory functions of Janapada Panchayat as laid down by Section 130. A mere look at the provisions of Section 130 shows that Janapada Panchayat can carry out its socio-economic functions in any part of the block within its jurisdiction and that way even includes local area of municipalities falling within the block. It is also obvious that a municipality can consist of areas which are within the revenue limits of a district, which in turn may get divided into blocks for the purpose of Panchayats Act by notification issued by State Government under Section 103 of the Panchayats Act. As per sub-section (iv) of Section 130(1) the Janapada Panchayat can undertake expansion of existing medical and health services and bring them within the reach of the people. It may establish primary health and maternity centres. It may ensure systematic vaccination. It may control epidemics. It may supervise work in Govt. dispensaries and hospitals. It may enlist peoples' participation for the improvement of such dispensaries and hospitals. In the field of education as laid d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... organise and regulate markets, fairs and melas. It can also provide for welfare of backward classes and can discharge any other function with the approval of the State Government The aforesaid various provisions regarding the functions of the Janapada Panchayat show that Janpad Panchayat can undertake the aforesaid activities even within the local limits of municipalities which may also form a part and parcel of the block area within the jurisdiction of the concerned Janapada Panchayats. To some extent the functions of Municipalities and Janapada Panchayats may over-lap but the functions for the welfare of the public even though overlapping can harmoniously co-exist and can be discharged in cooperation with each other. It is also to be kept in view that the local authorities like municipalities or corporations are more concerned with providing civic amenities to the public residing within their territorial limits. The functions of Janapada Panchayats are more expensive in nature and they include socio-economic functions which may strictly not be confined to merely providing civic amenities to the residents of the area. Consequently, it cannot be held that for exercising such compr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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