TMI Blog1966 (11) TMI 87X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndent was that in view of art 276 of the Constitution, the notifications under which the tax was imposed could not be enforced except to the extent provided under art. 276(2) of the Constitution. The case of the Municipal Committee, in brief, was that the notifications were in force immediately before the commencement of the Constitution and, therefore, were not hit by art. 276(2). It is now necessary to set out the history of the notifications and the various municipal laws which were made applicable to the Municipal Committee, Akot, from time to time. It appears that the Municipal Committee, Akot, was constituted under the Berar Municipal Law, 1886, and under section 41 of the Berar Municipal Law, 1886, the Committee was empowered to impose certain taxes. it may be mentioned that the Berar Municipal Law, 1886, was promulgated by Notification No. 3938-1 dated November 5, 1886, by the Viceroy and Governor-General in Council. Berar, at the relevant time, was not part of the British India. The Municipal Committee, Akot, issued notification No. 98, dated March 14, 1899, regarding levy of profession tax. The relevant part of the notification reads as follows: With reference to s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Municipalities Act, 1922 ( 11 of 1922). (a) for sub-section (1) the following shall be substituted, namely: (1) The Berar Municipal Law, 1886, is hereby repealed. (b) in sub-section (2), for the words Acts the word Law shall be substituted. It is not necessary to set out all the amendments made by the notification in the Central Provinces Municipalities Act, 1922. The effect of this notification, in brief, was to apply the Central Provinces Municipalities Act, 1922, with certain modifications, to, Berar and to repeal the Berar Municipal Law, 1886, and further to ,save the taxes imposed and other acts done by the Municipalities by deeming them to have been made, imposed or assessed under the Central Provinces and Berar Act, 1922 (2 of 1922) as applied to Berar. It was further, provided by sub-s. (6) of s. 66 that any tax imposed in a Municipality before the date on which this Act comes into force shall continue in operation notwithstanding that it is not a tax specified in sub-section (1) , and sub-s. (7) of s. 66 enabled a committee to abolish any tax to which subsection (6) applied as if it were a tax imposed under this Act but may not vary the amount or rate ther ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed that all appointments, delegations, notifications, orders, byelaws. rules and regulations which have been made or issued, or deemed to have been made or issued and all other things done or deemed to. have been done under, or in pursuance of, any provision of any of the said Acts as applied to Berar by order under the said Order in Council, and which are in force at the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been made or issued or done under or in pursuance of the corresponding provision of that Act as now extended, to, and in force in, Berar. In the meantime a bill was introduced in the Central Assembly on March, 21, 1941, which was ultimately passed as The Professions Tax Limitation Act, 1941 (XX of 1941). This Act came into force on April 1, 1941. This Act provided: S. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law for the time being in force, any taxes payable in respect of any one person to a Province, or to any one municipality, district board, local board, or other local authority in any Province, by way of tax on professions, trades, callings or employments, shall from and after the commencement of this Act cease to be levied to the extent in which such t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Central , Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922, it is still a tax imposed under s. 66(1) of the Central Provinces Municipalities Act, 1922; it is a case of misdescription that the word Berar has not been mentioned in item 5 of the Schedule to the Profession Tax Limitation Act, 1941; the item will be otiose if any other meaning is ascribed to it. In our opinion the High Court came to the correct conclusion. First, item No. 4 is an exemption from the limitation imposed by s. 2 *Ins. by s. 2 of the Professions Tax Limitation (Amendment) Act, 1946 (v of 1946) (retrospectively) (1) High Court of Judicature at Application No. 104 of 1960 judgment Special Civil Application No.104 of 1960. Judoicature delivered on August 9, 1960. of the Professions Tax Limitation Act, 1941, and the exemption must be construed strictly. Secondly, the effect of s. 3 and item 4 of the Schedule is to continue the leviability of a tax and, in our opinion, this item must be construed strictly like a taxing statute. If Mr. Gupte had been able to convince us that the item would be otiose if this interpretation is put there would be something to say in his favour. But the. item will not b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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