Allahabad High Court
M.S. Bansal (Pvt.) Ltd. Through Its ... vs State Of U.P. Through Secretary Nagar ... on 17 February, 2020
Bench: Bala Krishna Narayana, Prakash Padia
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Court No. - 4 Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 195 of 2020 Petitioner :- M.S. Bansal (Pvt.) Ltd. Through Its Managing Director Shri Daya Shanker Dixit Respondent :- State Of U.P. Through Secretary Nagar Vikas Mantralaya And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ranjit Saxena Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Dharmendra Singh Chauhan Hon'ble Bala Krishna Narayana,J.
Hon'ble Prakash Padia,J.
The petitioner has preferred the present writ petition with the following prayers:-
"(i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the Notice Khas in the printed format No.820 issued by Tax and Revenue Superintendent Aligarh Nagar Nigam Aligarh U/s213 ofthe U.P. Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 issued on 11.12.2019 received on 06.01.2020 showing in printed format without any proposal of executive committee of sub committee annual value of Rs.353976/- House Tax 12.5%, Rs.44247/-, Water Tax 8% Rs.28318/- Drainage Tax 4% Rs.14159 /- with effect from 01.04.2017 (from back date) without any procedure in respect of 13/7 Kabra Kutta Zone No.4 Aligarh.
(ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature as the Hon'ble Court may deem proper
(iii) Award the cost of the petition to the petitioner."
It is admitted between the parties that identical controversy has already been decided by another Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Writ Tax No.1337 of 2019 (M.S. Bansal (Pvt.) Ltd., Hotel Ruby 13/8 Kabra Kutta, Aligarh through its Managing, Shri Daya Shanker Dixit Vs. State Of U.P. Through Secretary, Nagar Vikas Mantralaya, Lucknow And 2 Others) by order dated 27.01.2020. The order dated 27.01.2020 is quoted below:
"The only issue which falls for consideration in the facts of the instant case is whether the impugned notice dated 21st November, 2019, was issued by an incompetent authority and the proposal to increase the annual value 5.5 times for the period as stated therein at Rs. 17, 21,118/- was without any authority of law.
We had directed the concerned authority, namely, the Nagar Nigam, Aligarh, to file a report in the form of an affidavit in terms of our order dated 10th December, 2019. The affidavit is now before us. Paragraph 4 of the said affidavit is required to be taken note of and is reproduced hereinbelow:-
4. "THAT, at this juncture, it is respectfully submitted that due to inadvertent mistake, but not mal-intention, the provision taken recourse to under the impugned notice dated 21.11.2019 has wrongly been referred to as Section 213 of the Act, 1959 whereas, the same ought to have been mentioned as Section 209 of the Act, 1959 read with Rule 4-A of the Rules, 2000, for which the deponent tenders unconditional apology and the same may very kindly be accepted by this Hon'ble Court."
The impugned notice dated 21st November, 2019, is annexed to the writ petition at page 35.
A plain reading of the impugned notice reveals that it was not an inadvertent mistake on the part of the concerned authority nor is it a case of referring to or misquoting a provision of law. Rather, the notice is in a printed format wherein it is clearly stated that the same has been issued under section 213 of The Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporations, Act, 1959. Section 213 of the said Act is not at all applicable so far as the instant case is concerned. Clearly it is a case of non-application of mind.
At this juncture, the learned advocate representing Nagar Nigam, Aligarh, submits that his client may be allowed to withdraw the impugned notice dated 21st November, 2019, and issue a fresh notice in accordance with law.
Considering the stand taken on behalf of the Nagar Nigam, Aligarh, we dispose of the writ petition by directing Nagar Nigam, Aligarh, to issue a fresh notice in accordance with law upon treating the impugned notice dated 21st November, 2019, as withdrawn.
We make it clear that we have not gone into any other issue sought to be raised by the writ petitioner while deciding the matter in the manner as indicated hereinabove."
Since the controversy involved in the present writ petition is absolutely identical, we dispose of the writ petition by directing the Nagar Nigam, Aligarh, to issue a fresh notice in accordance with law upon treating the impugned notice dated 11.12.2019, as withdrawn.
We make it clear that we have not gone into any other issue sought to be raised by the writ petitioner while deciding the matter in the manner as indicated hereinabove.
Order Date :- 17.2.2020 saqlain