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TMI Blog1962 (4) TMI 121X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as made on it to that effect on the 15th April, 1950. Under this contract, the appellant prepared charcoal and exported it out of the State of Sirohi. The Assistant Commissioner, Customs and Excise, Sirohi, took the view that the appellant was liable to pay customs duty @ As. -/8/- per maund on the quantity of charcoal exported by it. The Asstt. Commissioner found that the charcoal thus exported by the appellant was 27,003 mds. Accordingly, the said Asstt. Commissioner made a report to the Commissioner on the 11th February, 1954. The matter was then dealt with by the Dy. Commissioner, Customs Excise, and he passed on order that the appellant had exported charcoal without payment of duty. This order was made on the 17th December, 1954. According to the finding made by the Dy. Commissioner, the charcoal exported by the appellant after the 30th November, 1948, amounted to 48,650 maunds. On this basis, the appellant was asked to pay ₹ 24,325/- on account of the duty on export of charcoal @ As. -/8/- a maund. The appellant challenged the correctness of this order by preferring an appeal to the Government, but its appeal was rejected on the 24th May, 1956. The appellant come to k ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ies shall be levied on the goods mentioned in the Tariff at the rates prescribed by it. The result if that it is only in respect of goods mentioned in the Tariff and at the rates specified therein that customs duties could be levied. 5. Section 15 of the said Act conferred upon the Darbar power to fix and alter tariff rates. It says that : the Darbar may, from time to time, by notification in the Sirohi State Gazette, save in emergency cases, alter the rates prescribed in the Tariff and such altered rates shall come into force from the date mentioned in the notification, or, in the event of the notification not reaching any customs post concerned, on a subsequent date from such date. The effect of this section is that the power to fix and alter tariff rates has been conferred on the Darbar which is required ordinarily to issue a notification in that behalf. The High Court thought that as a result of reading sections 14 and 15 together, it was open to the Darbar not only to alter rates at which customs could be levied, but also to include new items under the taxable articles mentioned in the Tariff. This view is clearly erroneous. The power conferred on the Darbar by s. 15 is to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... orders which would make the decision effective. In other words, there can be little doubt that the power of the Council in respect of the matters covered by Schedule I were no more than advisory; it was always for the Ruler to decide what final orders should be passed in respect of the matters referred to the Council for its decision. That is the nature and scope of the power conferred on the Council. 8. Since the Ruler of the State, His Highness Maharajadhiraja Maharao Taj Singhji Bahadur, was a minor in 1947, His Excellency the Crown Representative was pleased to sanction the passing of the Regency Act for the Sirohi Minority Administration on the 14th August, 1947. This Act provided that it was to come into force on the 14th August, 1947 and was to continue until the Ruler attained the age of 18 years. Section 3 of the Act prescribes that for the purpose of the Constitution of the Sirohi State, the word Ruler wherever occurring in the Constitution shall be deemed to be the Board of Regency. Section 4 provided for the constitution of the Board of Regency. It was to consist of Her Highness the Dowager Maharani Saheba of Sirohi, Maharana Shri Sir Bhawani Singhji Bahadur of Dan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ative power. Therefore, the validity of the order can be sustained only if it is shown that it has been passed with the approval of the Board of Regency of which Shri Raj Mata Saheba was the President. 10. In dealing with this question, it is necessary to bear in mind that the order does not formally recite that Shri Raj Mata Saheba had approved of the order as the President of the Board of Regency. The order has been issued by the Secretary of the State Council and does not purport to have been issued by the executive officer of the Board of Regency. The order does not refer to the Board of Regency at all and does not purport to say that Shri Rajmata Saheba, when she gave her approval, was acting on behalf of the Board. If the order had formally been passed as on behalf of the Board of Regency, it would have been open to the respondent to contend that the assumption should be that it was duly passed by the Board of Regency and has been promulgated according to the rules of business prescribed by the said Board. But since the order does not purport to have been issued either on behalf of the Board of Regency or on behalf of Shri Raj Mata Saheba acting for the Board of Regency, i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lt of the decision of the Board of Regency, since the Board of Regency alone was clothed with the necessary legislative authority. Unless the Board passed the resolution, it could not take effect as a law in the State of Sirohi. The approval of the Raj Mata to the resolution passed by the State Council cannot cure infirmity arising from the fact that the State Council had no legislative power. 12. The High Court seems to have taken the view that since the Raj Mata entered into the agreement of merger, she can be treated at the de facto Ruler of the State and as such, she was competent to exercise the necessary legislative power to pass the impugned order. We are not inclined to accept this view. It is clear that the document of merger has been signed by the Raj Mata describing herself as the President of the Regency Board; but the High Court thought that since the document had not been signed by the Board itself, the Raj Mata could be treated as the de facto Ruler of the State. This view is clearly erroneous. Since the Raj Mata was the President of the Board of Regency, it was competent to her to sign the document on behalf of the Board and she purported to sign it as the Presid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... exercise of that jurisdiction. It is thus clear that until the 25th, January, 1950, Sirohi was not a part of Rajasthan and was not amenable to the application of the Ordinance in question. The respondent attempted to suggest that as soon as Sirohi became a part of Rajasthan, the Ordinance in question applied to it. This argument is obviously fallacious. When Sirohi became a part of Rajasthan, the laws applicable to Rajasthan prior to the merger of Sirohi could be made applicable to Sirohi only after an appropriate legislation had been passed in that behalf. In fact, in 1953, the Rajasthan Laws (Application to Sirohi) Act (No. III of 1953) was passed to declare that certain Rajasthan laws applied to Sirohi. Section 3 of this Act provided that the Rajasthan laws specified in the Schedule to the Act shall, in so far as they relate to any of the matters enumerated in Lists II and III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India, apply, and as from the appointed day, be deemed to have applied to Sirohi not-withstanding any thing to the contrary contained in the Sirohi Administration Order, 1948, or in any other law, or instrument. There is a proviso to this section with which we ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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