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TMI Blog1965 (7) TMI 67X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ss the above petitions The sole question for determination is whether the Kerala Plantations (Additional Tax) Act, 1960 is ultra vires Art. 14 of the Constitution which provides that the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. Thuttampara Planting Co. v Tahsildar, Chittur, (1964 K.L.T. 47) is to the effect that the statute does not violate Art. 14 of the Constitution. 2. Every difference in treatment is not an act of discrimination. It is not the lack of uniformity but the absence of an intelligible differentia that offends the article and abrogates the statute. 3. The taxation provided by the Kerala Plantations (Additional Tax) Act 1960, was additiona ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on of the cases before us. In that case the Supreme Court said: The guarantee of equal protection of the laws must extend even to taxing statutes. It does not mean that every person should be taxed equally. But it does mean that if property of the same character has to be taxed, the taxation must be by the same standard, so that the burden of taxation may fall equally on all persons holding that kind and extent of property. If the taxation generally speaking, imposes a similar burden on everyone with reference to that particular kind and extent of property, on the same basis of taxation, the law shall not be open to attack on the ground of inequality, even though the result of the taxation may be that the total burden on different persons ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... every attempt has been made to eliminate inequality in the incidence of the tax. Section 3(4) of the Act, for example, provides that for the purposes of assessment the extent of the plantations held by an assessee shall be determined in the manner specified in Schedule II; and Schedule II says: For the purposes of the assessment of plantation tax payable by a person, the extent of plantations held by him shall be deemed to be the aggregate of the following, expressed in acres, namely:-- (i) the quotient obtained by dividing the total number of bearing cocoanut trees standing on all lands held by him by 85; (ii) The quotient obtained by dividing the total number of bearing arecanut trees standing on all lands held by him by 60C; (iii ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... also be true that there are other items which could have been brought within the purview of the Act. But that does not mean that there has been a violation of Art. 14 of the Constitution. As stated by Will is: A State does not have to tax everything in order to tax something. It is allowed to pick and choose districts, objects, persons, methods, and even rates for taxation if it does so reasonably." (Constitutional law of the United States, page 587). 11. To the same effect is the statement of the Supreme Court in Sakhawant Ali v State of Orissa (A. I. R. 1955 S. C. 166.) The Supreme Court said: It is for the Legislature to determine what categories it would embrace within the scope of legislation and merely because certain catego ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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