NDLI: Raja Jagannath Baksh Singh Vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh and Another

Raja Jagannath Baksh Singh Vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh and Another

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Raja Jagannath Baksh Singh Vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh and Another

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Land Holding Notice of Assessment Determination of annual value U. P. Large Land Holdings Tax Act 1957
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Case Type	Writ Petition
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Petition Dismissed
Headnote	Land Holding — Notice of Assessment — Determination of annual value—Constitutional validity of enactment—U. P. Large Land Holdings Tax Act, 1957 (U.P. 31 of 1957), 83.7 (2), 5 (1)—Constitution of India, Arts. 14, 19 (1) (b), 81, Seh. VII, List II, Entry 49.This petition challenged the constitutional validity of a notice of assessment served under s.7 (2) of the U.P. Large Land Holdings Tax Act, 1957. The High Court had found against the petitioner. His case was that the relevant provisions of the Act were unconstitutional as the State Legislature was incompetent to pass the Act, that the Act violated Arts. 14, 19 and 31 of the constitution and that the rates fixed by the State Government under s. 5(1) of the Act were invalid as being contrary to that section. The impugned Act has since been repealed by the U. P. Imposition of ceiling of Land Holdings Act, 1961, with effect from the 30th June, 1961.Held, that the contentions were without substance and the petition must fail.The cardinal rule of interpreting the words used by, the Constitution in conferring legislative power was that they must receive the most liberal construction and if they are words of wide amplitude the construction must accord with it. If a general word was used it must be so construed as to extend to all ancillary or subsidiary matters that can be reasonably included in it. So construed, there could be no doubt that the word ‘land’ in Entry 49, List II, 7th Schedule includes all lands, whether agricultural or non-agricultural. Since the impugned Act imposed tax on land holdings, it was within the competance of the State Legislature and its validity was beyond challenge.The word ‘may’ in s.5(1) of the Act could not in the context mean ‘shall’ or ‘must’. While prescribing the maximum limit of the multiple which could not be exceeded, that section rightly left it to the discretion of the State Government to adjust it suitably to local requirement and the quality of the land involved. The notification issued the State Government under s. 5(1) must, therefore, be held to have complied with the statutory requirements prescribed therefor. It is now settled law that a taxing statute can be challenged on the ground that it infringes a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. Therefore, a taxing statute can be challenged under Art. 14 if it purports to impose on the same class of property, similarly situated an incidence of taxation which leads to obvious inequality. The legislature can freely choose its objects of taxation, fix the rate and classify persons and properties for that purpose, and the classification, if rational, cannot be challenged merely because the rates are different for different classes or objects. But if the taxing status contravenes Art. 14 of the Constitution in its operation, the Courts are free to interfere. Similarly if it provides no machinery or procedure for the recovery or assessment of the tax, so that the imposition partakes of the character of a purely administrative affair, the statute can, in a proper case, be challenged under Art. 19 (1) (f). A taxing statute that affects no fundamental rights meets the requirement of Art. 31 (1). Article 31 (2) can have no application to such a statute even though the tax may be excessive and may ultimately lead to the loss of the assessee’s property. This is evident from the provisions of Art. 31 (2A) and 31 (5) (b) (i). Section 5 (1) of the impugned Act did not confer no unbettered power on the State Government so as to contravene Art. 14 and 19 (1) (f) of the Constitution,No taxing statute can be said to be a colourable legislation simply because the tax it levies is excessive. The plea of colourable legislation can succeed only when the relevant circumstance are strong enough to justify the inference that it is so and so it amounts to a fraud.
Judge	Honble Mr. Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar
Neutral Citation	1962 INSC 121
Petitioner	Raja Jagannath Baksh Singh
Respondent	The State Of Uttar Pradesh And Another
SCR	[1963] 1 S.C.R. 220
Judgement Date	1962-04-04
Case Number	327

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