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2. The petitioner is a company engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of flot glass in the area of village Kondh, Valia Road, Ankleshwar, District Bharuch since the year 1993.

employees at the said factory. Initially, there was no octroi levied by the Kondh Gram Panchayat for the goods imported within the revenue limits of the said panchayat. However, the panchayat has passed a resolution on 11.1.1999 to levy octori for the goods imported in the revenue limits of that village from 1.4.1999. As per section 201 and the Rules thereunder, the petitioner-company made an application proposing to make payment of lump-sum amount in lieu of taxes to the respondent-Gram Panchayat, and accordingly, vide their application dated 6.4.1999, requested respondent-Gram Panchayat to stay the recovery of octroi from the company HC-NIC Page 2 of 12 Created On Tue Jul 12 00:58:22 IST 2016 C/SCA/16030/2003 JUDGMENT pending the sanction of their proposal. Further, on 10.7.1999, the petitioner-company made another representation to the Taluka Development Officer, Taluka Valia for fixing lump-sum amount of Rs. 8 lacs p.a. towards octroi leviable by the respondent - Gram Panchayat. The proposal was sent to the Government. The Government considered the proposal and declined to accept the same vide impugned order dated 14.10.2003. Aggrieved from this order, the petitioners approached this Court by way of this petition.

9. Learned counsel for the petitioners also referred to the arbitrary calculation made by the State Government to the proposal put forward by them. It will be relevant to note that since the day of inception in the year 1993, the petitioners have not paid a single penny towards the octroi etc. as for the first five years they were exempted from the payment of octroi, and thereafter, when respondent no. 3 - Panchayat decided to impose octroi, exemption has been sought on one ground or other. Learned counsel for the petitioner has also referred to the average octroi payable by the petitioners for the HC-NIC Page 9 of 12 Created On Tue Jul 12 00:58:22 IST 2016 C/SCA/16030/2003 JUDGMENT last three years which should have been made the base for the Government in deciding the matter. Since the petitioner-company has not paid single penny towards the octroi, the average calculated by the petitioner-company seems to have been rightly rejected by the State Government.

11. Though there is no payment of octroi by the petitioner-company in the preceeding three years, on the basis of which the State can reach to an acceptable figure regarding payment of lump-sum octroi, however, even if we go by the own assessment made by the petitioners, average octroi would come to Rs. 36 lacs per annum. Payment of octroi at the rate of Rs. 8 lacs per annum as offered by the petitioners is definitely disproportionate to the taxes which they are liable to pay. This court has no doubt that the HC-NIC Page 10 of 12 Created On Tue Jul 12 00:58:22 IST 2016 C/SCA/16030/2003 JUDGMENT State is within its powers to have rejected such offer when the amount offered is disproportionately less than the amount recoverable by the panchayat by way of octroi and taxes. Merely the fact that the Gram Panchayat has accepted the proposal and forwarded the same to the higher authority is no ground to presume that the same has been accepted by the Government. The Act seems to have given ample power to the Government to reject the proposal if it is disproportionate and arbitrary.

12. Learned counsel for the petitioners also referred to certain other factories which have been exempted from day to day payment of octroi and are alleged to have been permitted to pay lump-sum octroi to the panchayat. No importance can be given to such argument in absence of other details like how much local population has been engaged in the business; how much amount has been spent on the amenities provided to the residents of the area and what was the amount actually payable by way of octroi by such firms.