TMI Blog1984 (11) TMI 42X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... which accrues or arises from the supply of a commodity or service (not being water or electricity) within its own jurisdictional area or from the supply of water or electricity within or outside its own jurisdictional area." The term " local authority " is not defined under the Income-tax Act, with the inevitable result of the necessity of looking to the General Clauses Act, 1897 (GC Act), which gives the following definition of the term, vide section 3(31). " local authority shall mean a municipal committee, district board, body of port commissioners or other authority legally entitled to, or entrusted by the Government with, the control or management of a municipal or local fund. " Very clearly, Market Committee is neither a municipal committee nor district board nor a body of port commissioners. Is it (i) " other authority " and if yes, (ii) either entitled to or in fact entrusted by the Government with the control or management of a local fund, are the two issues. The first unavoidable exercise would be to examine the scheme of the APMC Act which is the source of its life and existence. Before the APMC Act was brought on the statute book, there operated in the fiel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ttee and section 14 provides for election and terms of office of members. Section 14A deals with the constitution of an election fund. Section 29 enumerates the powers and duties of market committee. Market committee is obliged to provide such facility for marketing of agricultural produce in the market as the director may from time to time direct and for that purpose may exercise such powers and perform such duties as are provided under the APMC Act. Subsection (2) of section 29 gives a list which by no means can be said to be exhaustive. They include (i) regulation of entry of persons and vehicular traffic, (ii) settlement of disputes, (iii) prosecution for violation of the provisions of the Act and rules, (iv) maintenance of the market, (v) acquiring, holding or disposing of properties, (vi) collecting or maintaining information in respect of production, sale, storage, processing, prices and movement of agricultural produce, (vii) taking all possible steps to prevent adulteration and to promote grading and standardisation to enforce provisions of the APMC Act, Rules, bye-laws and conditions of licence, and (viii) to perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time to tim ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... overable as an arrear of land revenue. Section 60 is a rule-making power and section 61 deals with the making of bye-laws by the market committee. Inter alia, the bye-law may provide that any contravention thereof may be punishable with a fine up to Rs. 100. The case of Union of India v. R. C. Jain, AIR 1981 SC 951, lays down the various tests for determining whether section 3(31) of the General Clauses Act is attracted or not (p. 952): " The authorities must have separate legal existence as corporate bodies. They must not be mere governmental agencies but must be legally independent entities. Next, they must function in a defined area and must ordinarily, wholly or partly, directly or indirectly, be elected by the inhabitants of the area. Next, they must enjoy a certain degree of autonomy, with freedom to decide for themselves questions of policy affecting the area administered by them. The autonomy may not be complete and the degree of dependence may vary considerably, but an appreciable measure of autonomy there must be. Next, they must be entrusted by statute with such governmental functions and duties as are usually entrusted to municipal bodies, such as those connected ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rnment, whether in regard to the proceedings generally or to specific matters such as the sanctioning of their budgets, sanction to the creation or filling up of particular appointments, the enactment of leave, pension or similar rules; (ii) the revenue of any body which may be specially notified by the Government as such. " The Bombay Financial Rules, 1959, in clause 183, explains the term "local fund " thus: " revenues administered by bodies which by law or rule having the force of law come under the control of the Government, whether in regard to the proceedings generally or to specific matters such as sanctioning of their budgets, sanction to the creation or filling up of particular appointments, the enactment of leave, pension or similar rules; (2) the revenue of any body which may be specially notified by the Government as such. " The conclusion is thus inescapable that the petitioners have all the attributes of " local authority " as contemplated by section 10(20) of the Income-tax Act. The authorities on the point are in abundance. We quote a few. In Patel Premji Jiva v. State of Gujrat [1971] 3 SCC 815, the Supreme Court has held that the Market Committee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unsel for the Department, in the first place contended that in view of the availability of an alternate remedy under the Income-tax Act, the petition should not be entertained at this premature stage. Several authorities, in support of this submission, were also brought to our notice. We do not think that this preliminary point can succeed. The respondents have taken a positive stand in the matter and driving the petitioners to remedies under the Income-tax Act would be an exercise in futility. A pure question of law having an impact on several public bodies is involved and the petitions are already admitted more than twelve months before. Moreover, the existence of an alternate remedy is no bar to entertain a writ petition. It is next contended that several decisions relied upon by the petitioners are not under the Income-tax Act and the ratio therein, therefore, cannot apply. The submission has no merit for what fell for consideration there and what falls for consideration here is the same definition, namely, section 3(31) of the GC Act. Equally devoid of merit is a submission that the scheme of the Gujarat Act is basically different from the APMC Act. No doubt, the definitions ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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