9911796707
TMI Blog1979 (9) TMI 213X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... advertisements published in newspapers under section 132(2)(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 by the Indore Corporation. 3. The main contention urged by the learned counsel for the petitioners is that the resolution imposing the tax did not contain any 'system of assessment as required by section 133 of the Act. The impugned tax was imposed by the order of the Administrator dated 7th September 1970. Section 132 enumerates the taxes which can be imposed by the Corporation, A tax on advertisements other than advertisements published in newspapers is one of the taxes which the Corporation can impose under the Act. The procedure of imposition of taxes is contained in section 133. Sub-section (1) of section 133. p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is strongly supported by a decision of the Supreme Court in Vallabhdas v. Municipal Committee. Akola [ AIR 1967 SC 133], In this case the Supreme Court construed section 67 (2) of the Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922 which required a Municipal Committee to publish in accordance with rules a notice defining the class of persons or description of property proposed to be taxed, the amount or rate of tax to be imposed and the system of assessment to be adopted. It was held having regard to other sections in the Act which dealt with rules for assessment and collection of tax that the expression system of assessment in section 67 (2) was limited to the stage of the imposition of the tax and that it was sufficient if the noti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be levied or collected except by authority of law. The words levy and collection in this Article are used in a comprehensive sense to cover all steps beginning from imposition and ending with recovery. The Constitution, however, does not make it obligatory that the procedural provisions for assessment must be detailed which must, of necessity, depend upon the nature of the tax imposed by the statute. The assessment of tax on a person or property is a proceeding of a quashi-judicial nature and if the machinery provided by the statute for assessment and collection is purely administrative, the imposition of the tax may be held to be invalid as unreasonable restriction of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19(1) (f) and (g) o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... imposed within the limits of the city shall have become due, the Commissioner shall with the least practicable delay cause to be presented to any person liable for the payment thereof a bill for the sum claimed as due. Contents of bill. (2) Every such bill shall specify-- (a) the period for which, and (b) the property, occupation or thing in respect of which the sum is claimed, and shall also give notice of-- (i) the liability incurred in default of payment, and (ii) the time within which an objection may be preferred as against such claim. Section. 174, If bill not paid within 15 days' notice of demand to issue--(1) If the sum, for which a bill is presented as aforesaid, is not paid and no objection has been prefer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ised, the Commissioner issues a notice of demand under section 174. It is implicit in the terms of section 174 that if a person on whom the bill is served raises objections within fifteen days, the objections should be decided by the Commissioner in a quashi-judicial manner and it is only when the objections are over-ruled that a notice of demand can follow. The order of the Commissioner rejecting the objections and issuing a notice of demand can be challenged in appeal because the notice of demand is appealable under section 184. Now in cases where there are separate bye-laws for assessment of tax made under section 427(3), the objections which a person can take under section 174 on presentation of a bill would be of a limited character. I ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wers for recovery of sums due to Government and did not expressly provide any procedure for assessment. Similarly, in Roopchand v. K. U. M. Samiti, Raipur (supra) a quasi-judicial procedure for assessment was inferred from section 20 of the Madhya Paadesh Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1960 and rule 56 made there under although none of these provisions expressly provided for assessment of the fee imposed. These decisions support our conclusion that sections 173 and 174 impliedly provide for assessment in a quasi judicial manner in cases where there are no separate bye-laws for assessment of a tax. We are, therefore, unable to accept the argument that the tax was inoperative till 18th August 1978 for want of any machinery for its assessme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
