TMI Blog1961 (2) TMI 71X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ns filed by the appellants under Art. 226 challenging the legality of the imposition of octroi on wool and cotton under s. 98 of the City of Bangalore Municipal Corporation Act (Act LXIX of 1949), which for the sake of convenience, will be termed the Act . On March 31, 1954, a resolution was passed purporting to be under s. 98(1) of the Act by which it was resolved to levy an octroi on cotton and wool as follows :- Name of the Articles Rate of duty 1.Raw cotton and wool (this includes both loose and compressed, made in India or foreign) Rs.1/9/- percent. ad valorem This was notified in the Mysore Gazette on April 3, 1954, and was also published ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t. 301 which guaranteed freedom of inter-State trade and commerce, and 3. that it was in contravention of Art. 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. The High Court rejected all these objections and the appellant has come to this court on a certificate of the High Court under Art. 133(1) of the Constitution. In order to decide the question of the legality of the tax it is necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of the Act. Section 97 enumerates the taxes and duties which the Corporation is empowered to levy under the Act. Section 97(e) provides: 97. The Corporation may levy- (e)an octroi on animals or goods or both brought within the octroi limits for consumption or use therein. Section 98 which deals with the powers. of control ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... filed. The only defect, if defect it can be called at all, was that instead of saying that it intended to impose a tax, the notice which was published said the tax had been resolved to be levied. This is a technicality and is of no substance. The next objection raised was that after the Corporation adopted the resolution imposing the tax which was after considering all the objections the publication was only in local newspapers and there was no publication in the Government Gazette and this, it was submitted, was such a serious defect as to make the imposition illegal and ultra vires. In support counsel for the appellants relied on certain judgments where publication in the Official Gazette was held to be a condition precedent to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nimals and goods shall be levied at the rates not exceeding the following. Classes I to VII specify articles on which octroi can be levied at the maximum rate. Class VIII was as follows: Octroi Maximum rate Other articles which are not specified above and which may be ₹ 2-0-0 per cent. approved by the Corporation ad valorem by an order in this behalf That class empowers the Municipal Council to impose octroi duty on other articles which are not specified but which may be approved by the Corporation. In other words the Corporation can choose other articles upon which tax can be imposed and the respondent Corporation in the present case did resolve to impose tax on raw cotton and wool and also fixed the rate at ₹ 1-9-0 per cen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e III. Reliance was placed on the interpretation of the word in this behalf as given by this Court in Bijay Cotton Mills Ltd. v. Their Workmen [1960] 2 S.C.R. 982. But that case has no application to the facts of the present case because the resolution was, as a matter of fact, passed for the purpose of imposing an octroi duty on the goods in dispute. The words used in Bijay Cotton Mills Ltd. v. Their Workmen [1960] 2 S. C.R. 671 were in another context and' even there all that was said was that a notification had to issue making the Central Government the appropriate Government. As we have said above in the present case there was a resolution which sought to include these goods in the Schedule for the purpose of imposing the tax. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... slature has done in the present case is that it has specified certain articles on which octroi duty can be imposed and it has also given to the Municipal Corporation the discretion to determine on what other goods and under what conditions the tax should be levied. That, in our opinion, is not a case which falls under the rule laid down by this Court in Hamdard Dawakhana v. Union of India [1960] 2 S.C.R. 671. It was contended in C. A. 449/57 that the imposition of duty on raw cotton could not cover processed cotton that is cotton which had been ginned, combed and pressed. The High Court held that the cotton by being ginned or pressed in bales does not cease to be raw cotton and was to be regarded as raw for the purpose of the Act. The sa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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