LexPUNJAB NATIONAL BANK versus NEW DELHI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE
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PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK
v.
NEW DELHI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE
December 22, 1972
[K. K. MATHEW AND A. K. MUKHERJEA, JJ.J
189·
Punjab Municipd Act, 1911-S. 66 and 61-Whether NDMC can
include a building retrospectively in the assessment list by amendment.
The appellant is the owner of No. 5 Parlmment Street, New Delhi.
The
build~ng was not entered in the assessment list to be operative
during April 1, 1958 to March 31, 1959, although it was occupied
after completion on July I, 1968. Under S. 67 of the Punjab Municipal
Act, 19! 1, the NDMC by a resolution dated November
2(),
1959
amended the assessment list which was operative for the period April 1,
1959, to March 31, 196() and imposed house tax· on the building for
the year 1959-6()_
Section 67 of the Act provides that the Committee may at
any
time amend the list after giving notioe to ainy person affected by the
amendment and $ub. s. (2) provides that any interested person may
tender bis objection and he -shall be give.I) an opportunity
of
being
heard etc.
The only questio,n that arose for decision before this Court
was
whether the Respondent was entitled to include the building
in
the
assessment list, which was operative for the period April 1, 1959 to
March 31, 196()_
Dismissing the appeal,
HELD : (i) The assessment list for the yOl!r
commencing
from
April ), 1959, had to be settled by March 31, 1959, at the latest. This
list was liable to be amended under S. 67 even after March 31, 1959
on any of the grounds mentioned in . that Section.
Sec. 66 does not
say that the amendment of the assessment list should have been made
before March 31, 1959. The expression "subject to such amendment
as may thereafter be duly made" iin Sec. 66 would indicate that the
amendment of the list could be made even after March 31, 1959 as
Sec. 67 pro,ides for amendment of the list "at any time." [193BC]
It is not necessary that the assessment list should have been amend-
ed before March 31, 1959, in order that the Municipal Committee may
impose house tax on the building for the period from April 1, 1959
to March 31. 1960. An amendmant of the list under S. 67 wlls per-
missible on any of the grounds mentioned in the Section
even
after
March 31, 1959, as otherwise, the expression "at any time" would have
no meaning.
[193EF]
(ii) Further, the meaning of the expression "at
any
time"
will
depend upon the context in which the expression occurs. The expres·
sio.n "at any time" occurrin~ in S. 67 read with the word "thereafter"
in S. 66 can only lead to the conclu•ion that the amendment of the
list in question was permissible even after March 31, 1959. [19SA]
Central Bank of India Ltd. Amritsar v. The Hartford Fire Insurance
Co. Ltd. A.I.R. 1965 S.C. 1288; Exparte Norris in Re Sahler 17 Q.B.D.
728 refe{Ted to
·
·
190
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
ICIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1315 of
1972.
Appeal by certificate from the judgment and order dated
October 28, 1969 of the Delhi High Court at New Delhi in Letters
Patent Appeal No. 93 of 1967.
A
M. C. Chagla, S. K. Mehta and K. R. Nagaraja, for the appel-
B
lant.
D. D. Chawla, H. K. Puri and S. K. Dhingra, for the respon-
dent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
MATHEW, J. The appellant, Punjab National Bank Limited,
is the owner of a building bearing municipal No. 5, Parliament
Street, New Delhi.
After completion of its construction, it was
occupied on July 1, 1958. The building was not entered in the
assessment list which was to be operative during the period from
April 1, 1958 to March 31, 1959. On September 4, 1959, the
New Delhi Municipal Committee, the respondent here, purporting
to act under s. 67 of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, hereinafter
referred to as the Act, issued a notice to the appellant stating :
"This is to inform you that your building mentioned
at the back of this letter has been completed and is in
fact occupied from 1-7-1958 and ought to be assessed to
House tax by amending the list for 1959-60 under sec-
tion 67 of the Municipal Act, 1911 and this Committee
has, vide resolution No. 30 dated 10-7-1959 proposed
to amend the list for the year 1959-60 by inserting the
said property on an annual value as given at the !1ack
of this letter.
"It is further proposed that the tax will take effect
from 1-4-1959.
''Notice is hereby given to you under section 67 of
the P. M. Act that the CoExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.