TMI Blog1964 (2) TMI 89X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... orrectly it is not compelled to entertain the petition for certiorari or mandamus against the inferior Court and to give notice of it. No useful purpose will be served by its entertaining the petition and giving notice of it. If Jagdish Sahai, I heard the applicants counsel in full it became irrelevant whether the questions raised by him were important or not; there was nothing to prevent his deciding them there and then. 4. Whether the alternative remedy open to the appellant was inadequate because of certain onerous conditions attached to its being availed of raised the question of fact whether the conditions were onerous or not. Attachment of any condition to the exercise of the alternative remedy did not as a matter of law render it inadequate. No facts were alleged by the appellant in its petition proving that the conditions in its case were so onerous as to make the remedy practically not available. 5. I agree that the appeal be dismissed with costs. J. N. Takru, J. 6. I agree with My Lord the Chiet Justice and brother Dwivedi, that this appeal should be dismissed with costs. Dwivedi, J. 7. The Tax Officer of the Antarim Zila Parishad, Muzaffarnagar, lev ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t was because the petitioner did not want to deposit the sum of ₹ 2,000, which is the amount of tax assessed on him. He went on to say: It has not been stated in the affidavit that the petitioner is a particularly poor man, that he has no property and that he is a pauper. From the order of the assessing officer it appears that the petitioner crushed 2250 maunds of cane per day. His gross income according to the assessing officer is ₹ 1,14,840/- His net income has been estimated to be ₹ 98,000/- The petitioner crushsd 270000 maunds of cane the cost of which was ₹ 4,05,000/-. His total investment in this business was ₹ 5,06,250/-. Annexure 'B' which is the application of the petitioner himself to the Antarim Zila Parishad clearly states that the profit of the petitioner was ₹ 25,000/-. There is no averment in the petition or in the affidavit that the petitioner is Indebted or he has no property I find it difficult to believe that the petitioner could not deposit the sum of ₹ 2000/- In fact the petitioner has not even said that he is not in a position to pay; all that he has said in paragraph 13 of the affidavit is that it wo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 24 of the Act violates Article 14 of the Constitution. 2. The levy is in excess of the maximum prescribed by Article 286 of the Constitution. 3. The Act expired on December 31, 1959. 4. The Antarim Zila Parishad, being a new body cannot levy the tax. 5. The appellant did not carry on business for more than six months in the assessment year. 6. The appellant is liable to pay the tax on circumstance and property to the Municipal Board of Muzaffarnagar wherein the business office of the appellant is located. There cannot be double taxation. 7. As there were no members of a circle, the tax could not be assessed. 15. These points were not brought to the notice of the learned Judge. Indeed three of them, namely 3, 4 and 7, are not even mentioned in the petition. They also do not figure in the memorandum of appeal. Again, only the fifth point was the basis of his objection before the Taxing Officer. In these circumstances how can one say that the learned Judge did not give due weight to these three points in shaping his discretion? 16. The remaining four points are no doubt mentioned in the petition. The petition, however, does not allege that any person or propert ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he existence of an alternative remedy may be ground for the rejection of the application.' 21. Chintaman Rao v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1950 SCR 759: (AIR 1951 SC 118). (Also See AIR 1954 SC 403 at p. 406) is distinguishable from the present case for another reason. There, unlike here, the amount of tax was to be deposited at the time of filing the appeal. 22. Raj Kishore's case, 1954 All LJ 405: (AIR 1954 All 675) is also distinguishable. Firstly, it was held there that in the appeal the validity of a bye-law could not be impugned; secondly, about 200 criminal prosecutions were pending for failure to pay the licence fee which was challenged in the petition. 23. In Raghubir Singh's case, 1955 All LJ 735: (AIR 1956 All 324) the alternative remedy was not that of an appeal but of a suit for injunction for restraining the Municipal Board from recovering the illegal levy of toll. A large number of persons had filed petitions. In the case of appeal the legislature had declared its preference for the remedy, and the Court, as the coordinate branch of the Government, would ordinarily give due weight to its preference. The Court feels no such inhibition in relation t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 28. Taxing statutes provide a complete machinery for assessment of tax and for remedy against the assessment, and normally the party aggrieved should exhaust that remedy before invoking the aid of the Court, as observed by Shah, J: In our view the petition filed by the appellant should not have been entertained. The Income-tax Act provides a complete machinery for assessment of tax and imposition of penalty and for obtaining relief in respect of any improper orders passed by the Income-tax authorities and the appellant could not be permitted to abandon resort to that machinery and to invoke the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution when he had an adequate remedy open to him by an appeal to the Tribunal. C.A. Abraham v. Income tax Officer Kottayam, (1961) 2 SCR 765: (AIR 1961 SC 609). 29. Learned counsel for the respondent has tried to fortify the discretion of the learned Judge by Rule 6 of Ch. XXII of the Rules of the Court. That rule has been framed by the Court under Article 225 of the Constitution. Article 226 confers on the Court a discretionary power. In moulding its discretion it may have regard to various circumstances includin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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