TMI Blog1966 (4) TMI 81X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed that octroi was legally leviable and started levying it from 1-5-1963. 3. The petitioner carried the matter in appeal to the District Judge, Adilabad. The learned District Judge allowed the appeal and held that groundnut oil and some other articles mentioned in the judgment are not subject to levy of octroi. He, however, held other articles to be chargeable in his judgment dated 7-10-1963. It is this judgment which is sought to be quashed in W. P. Nos. 107/64 and 40/64 by the City Municipality, Adilabad W. P. Nos. 163/65 and C. R. P. No. 1661 of 1963 dispute the very levy of octroi as that was held against the petitioners by the learned District Judge. 4. The principal contentions raised by Mr. K. Jagannadha Rao, the learned Counsel for the Writ petitioner in W. P. No. 163/65 are that the levy of octroi offends article 301 of the Constitution of India and that since the Municipality failed to prove that octroi, which puts restriction on the freedom of trade, is reasonable and that it is in the interest of public, the relevant provisions authorising the Municipality to levy octroi ought to be struck down as unconstitutional. In the alternative, it was contended that the gro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be plain that every form of taxation per se would not be an infringement of freedom of trade and commerce. It is difficult to take a view that taxation per se under authorised heads of the State List would amount to abridgment or curtailment of the freedom of trade and commerce even if such taxation imposes some incidental burden, however slight, on trade commerce and intercourse. Unless taxation operates as a direct and not remote or indirect restriction on such freedom, I am afraid, Article 301 may not be attracted, I am, therefore, of the view that, where taxation is resorted to for the purpose of restricting the resorted to for the purpose of restricting the free-flow of trade and commerce, it would contravene Article 301 and in order to justify such taxation, the requirements of Article 304(b) will have to be satisfied. On the other hand, taxation per se under authorised heads of the State list would not amount to violation of Article 301, if it does not directly affect free-flow or movement of goods but is meant for the bona fide purpose of collecting revenue although such taxation may indirectly or incidentally place burden on trade, commerce or inter-course. It is true that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... suggestion was made that these provisions materially affect the business relating to the goods taxed. In this connection, the system of refund, which the rules recognise cannot be ignored. I am, therefore, satisfied that the impugned provision relating to octroi is a legislation which directly deals with the impositions of tax on goods for the bona fide purpose of collecting revenue and they do not profess or tend to impose any restrictions whatsoever either on inter-State. In that view of the matter, the irresistible conclusion is that the octroi would not infringe Article 301. It is levied at the rates which, by no stretch of imagination, can be said to be heavy affecting the trade. The rates vary, but are not so heavy as to curtail the freedom of trade in those commodities. The rates at which different commodities are taxed and the scheme of refund make the octroi a tax tolerable for the trade and in no way it can be argued that it puts heavy burden on the freedom of trade. I am therefore, satisfied that the tax is meant for the bona fide purpose of collecting revenue and that it does not put heavy burden on the trade so as to call it an infringement of the freedom of trade, an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat the onus to prove that the tax is reasonable and is in the public interest lay on the respondent and that since the respondent has not discharged that burden by producing the relevant material before the Court, I should declare the tax as unreasonable and not in the public interest and therefore, the tax offends Article. 301. 12. It is now well settled that the general presumption of constitutionality requires the Court to assume the validity of a statute untill clear and convincing evidence of its invalidity is established, likewise, the Court will presume that the facts found by the Legislature as the basis for the legislative action existed. These presumptions, if they may be so called, usually are not conclusive and do not more than impose on the proponent the burden of going forward and establishing his position to the satisfaction of the Court. 13. It is however unfortunate that the cases have used the language of pleading evidence and presumption. In these situations, the field is and should be one of legal argument only unfettered by formalities of procedure. The appeal, in such cases, is to the Judge and the argument is for determination of the law. The result ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Court. In applying the constitutional limitation of reasonableness in the exercise of the power to enact a taxation law for the purpose of Article 304(b) the Court may determine the question of reasonableness from an inspection of the provisions of the statute under consideration and find out whether it properly relates to matter within the limits of the power. But, in the exercise of the revisory power, the Courts, in my view, are limited to a consideration of the language of the statute itself and to such facts as may be noticed judicially and, normally, I say, they should not consider evidence aliened to show the invalidity of the statute. The general rule is that in determining the validity of a statute, the Court will treat the question as one of law, resort being had to extrinsic consideration only to the extent that the facts are or may become a matter of judicial knowledge. If this rule is not followed and enquiry with the assistance of extrinsic evidence is insisted upon, the extreme argument such as advanced before me that, since no material or evidence is produced by the respondent-Municipality on whom the onus lay, I should hold the tax ultra vires, will continue to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 956. It is true that the term 'food' is defined in the earlier enacted Corporation Act i.e., the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act; but it is not so defined in the later Act i.e., the Hyderabad District Municipalities Act with which I am now concerned. It cannot be however in doubt that the words of a statute, when there is doubt about their meaning, are to be understood in the sense in which they best harmonies with the subject of the enactment and the object which the Legislature has in view. Now, the subject of the relevant provision is levy of octroi and the object which the Legislature had in view is to make the revenue available to the Municipalities through the source of octroi, Octroi was the subject of legislation not only in the District Municipalities Act, but also of two other Acts enacted by the Hyderabad State Legislative Assembly in the same year, one being the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act and the other Village Panchayats Act. 19. The rule that, when a statute is found to be ambiguous in respect of some provision, the intention of the Legislature can be gathered from statutes relating to the same subject-matter, statutes in pari materia, is firmly ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onsideration that, unless the two enactments clearly indicate two different considerations although they may relate to the same subject. 21. The word ''par' must not be confounded with the word 'similar'. It is used in fact in opposition to it, intimating not like nests merely, but identity. It would however be a mistake to expect identity in the language of the Acts. The principle obviously relates to the identity in regard to the person or thing or class of persons or things: in other words, the subject-matter of the statute called in pair mature. If the language of the two statues in all respects is identical, no question of construing one Act with the assistance of the other Act is ambiguous or some provision appears to be of doubtful meaning that the assistance is sought from another statute in pair mature to remove the doubt or ambiguity. It is only in such circumstances that assistance in ascertaining the meaning of an enactment is permitted under this rule to be obtained by comparing its language with the words given in an earlier statute relating to the same subject. 22. It is profitable to quote a passage from Cries on Statute Law, 6th Edition pa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the words in the later as is given to them in the earlier statute . It is a rule of interpretation of a statute that it is permissible to call in aid for the construction of words or phrases used in one Act and meanings given to them in an earlier Act in pari materia. It is not denied nor can it be doubted that the provisions relating to octroi appearing in Hyderabad Municipal Corporations Act are substantially similar in the Hyderabad District Municipalities Act Not only that the relevant schedules in regard to octroi appearing in Hyderabad Municipal Corporations Act are substantially similar in the Hyderabad District Municipalities Act Not only that the relevant schedules in regard to octroi of the two Acts are similar, but they are almost identical. No provision of the Hyderabad District Municipalities Act was pointed out, which indicates that there was some departure from the earlier Act in so far as the definition of the word `food' is concerned. It will thus be seen that all the provisions including the schedule relating to the octroi are almost identical in the two Acts mentioned above and that the two acts were passed in the same year by the same Legislative Assembl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... can directly be eaten by the human being. Anything, which goes to nourish the tissues of a human-being is considered to be food. If that dictionary meaning is correct, then I do not find any reason as to why the groundnut oil should not be included in the term `food' It is not directly eatable, but is frequently used in preparing the food. Therefore, the groundnut oil is food within the meaning of the District Municipalities Act and is taxable to octroi. The learned District Judge therefore, in my view, was wrong in deciding that the groundnut oil is not food within the meaning of the Act. 25. In this view of the matter, the revision petition will have to be dismissed and W.P. No. 107/64 will have to be allowed with costs. Advocates fee ₹ 100. In regard to W.P. No. 10/64 in the view which I have taken, it will have to be considered whether the different items, which the learned District Judge considered not to be food within the meaning of the Act, fall within the term in view of above. The learned District Judge, keeping in view the judgment of this Court will consider whether the other items of the schedule question before him in the appeal come within the meaning of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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