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TMI Blog1985 (2) TMI 313X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng made it upon a principle which the law did not allow. 3. The learned Judge of the Court below was of opinion that the assessment was made upon a wrong principle; but he considered that in making it the Commissioners were acting within their powers, and consequently he had no authority to interfere. 4. The matter has now come before us on appeal; and, as to the facts of the case, or the general law applicable to the issuing of the certiorari, there seems little or no question. 5. The authority of this Court to remove the proceedings of inferior Courts in the exercise of their judicial functions, is undoubted. It is an authority derived from the old Supreme Court, and is similar to that which was exercised by the Court of Queen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on the annual value of such house and land; and, lastly, by Section 104, the estimated gross annual rent at which any such house or land might reasonably be expected to let from year to year, shall (for the purpose of any rate to be imposed under the Act) be held and deemed to be the annual value of such house or land. 9. Now, for the purpose of determining what the powers of the Commissioners are in imposing these rates, I think that Sections 88 and 104 must be read together, the one being explanatory of the other. The rates which the Commissioners impose are to be calculated on the annual value of the property rated (Section 88); and what is meant by the annual value of the property rated is the gross annual rent at which such propert ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he firm of Mackintosh, Burn Co.) at a rental of ₹ 115, and he produced certificates both from Mr. Williamson and from Baboo Nilmdney Mitter (who is a Civil Engineer and Surveyor well acquainted with the neighbourhood in which the house is situate) to the effect, that the house would not let from year to year for more than ₹ 250 a month. 14. He then says in paragraph 9 of his affidavit: The said Commissioners, however, would not listen to my contention, and said that they could not place any reliance on those two certificates as against the assessment made by their own assessor; and although they were perfectly aware that the house and premises in question would not, if let, produce ₹ 250 a month, and probably not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hered to their own surveyor's assessment upon the ground that it was properly made, and they refused to be guided by the principle laid down in Section 104 of the Act. 17. In this it seems to me they acted beyond their powers. They had no right whatever to make the assessment upon any other basis than that which the Act prescribes. The principle upon which they ascertained the annual value of the premises appears to me to have been obviously fallacious; but whether it was so or not, it was an arbitrary test, and one which the law does not sanction. 18. The assessor might just as well have estimated the rental upon the amount of the applicant's private income as upon the original cost of the building. 19. It may be, no doubt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not free from difficulty, but I have come to the conclusion that the error committed does go to jurisdiction. Three sections of the Calcutta Municipal Consolidation Act, 1876, are material. Section 64 requires the Commissioners at their Quarterly Meeting in October of each year to fix the rates at which the rates and taxes hereinafter mentioned shall be imposed for the year commencing on the first day of January then next ensuing. That section only gives power to fix the general standard of rating, and has nothing to do with the assessment of the individual properties upon which the rates are to be charged. This is dealt with in Section 88, which says: The Commissioners shall, as provided in Section 64, impose upon all houses and land w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n. 26. This Section first removes any doubt that might without it have arisen as to annual value meaning annual letting value. Secondly, it provides in favour of the public and against the person assessed that annual value is to mean gross rent, whereas it would otherwise have meant net rent, that is the gross rent, less the necessary outgoings, as was held by the House of Lords in Dobbs v. Grand Junction Waterworks Company L.R. 9 App. Cas. 49. Thirdly it gets rid of a possible ambiguity as to machinery. 27. This section, or so much of it as I have cited, may be regarded as in the nature of an interpretation clause explaining the meaning of the words in the earlier section. If so the two must be read together. And then it is, I think ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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