# • NEW DELHI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE v. LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA

- **Citation:** [1978] 1 S.C.R. 279
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1977-08-09
- **Bench:** Y. V. Chandrachud, P. S. Kailasam
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/new-delhi-municipal-committee-v-life-insurance-corporation-of-india-7274
- **Pages:** 10

## Headnote

279
Punjab Municipal Act, 1911--Ss. 66, 67 and 68A scope of-Certain property escaped asses.1n1e1U for five years-Power of Afunicfpal Conu11illec to
revise assess111ent-lf exists~'At any tfnu:' meaning of.
A
B
Section 66 of the Punjab h-funicipal Act, 1911 (which is the Act in force
in the New Delhi Municipal Area) prescribing the procedure for revision of
the valuation and assessment of property provides that "subject to such a1nendments as may thereafter be duly made the tax so assessed shall be deemed to
be the tax for the year con1mencing on the first day of January or first day of
C
April next ensuing as the Committee may determine." Section 67(1) provides
that the Committee may 'at any time' amend lhe list by altering the assessment
on any property which has been erroneously valued or assessed through fraud,
accident or mistake whether on the part of the Committee or of the asscssee,
after following the procedure prescribed therein. Section 68A which deals \vith
power to amend an assessment list in certain cases provides that where the
prescribed authority is satisfied that any property has been erroneously valued
or
assessed through fraud, accident or mistake, whether on the part of the
committee or of the as5essee, it may pass an order amending the assessment
D
already made and fixing the amount of tax payahle for that property and on the
issue of such an order the assessment list then in force shall be deemed to
have been amended accordingly with effect from first day of January or fin~t
day of April or first day of July or first day of October next follo~'ing the
month in which the order is passed.
In January, 1968 the appellant Municipal Committee issued a notice to the
respondent stating that it had decided to amend the lists of assessment for five
E
years (1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1966-67. 1967-68) on the gcound that the
rent of a portion of the basement of the building had e&caped inclusion in the
respective lists.
The respondent's writ petition was allowed by the High Court holding that
the assessment lists together with the amendments, if any, could only operate
prospectively in and for the fina11cial year next following and
not
for any
praiou~ year.
Allowing the appeal,
HELD : The Full Bench of the High Court was wrong in its conclusion
that the expression 'at any time' in s. 67 has reference only to the paint_ of
time when the list could be amended.
[286HJ
1 (a) That the amended list operates prospectively is correct because the
amendment is made to the original list and that list has prospective operation.
Each assessment list is effective for the ensuing year, so that the list settled
F
before 31st of March operates for the vear commencing with the ensuing 1st
G
of April and ending with the 31st of March following,
But the list in force
for such an ensuring year can under s. 67 be amended at any time \vil'h the
re~ult that when a list which was finalised say on March 25, 1970 is aniendPd
in August 1973, the amendment becomes effective for the year for which the
1ist itself was effective, that is to say, for the year April 1, 1970 to March 31.
1971.
The words "next ensuing" which occur in s. 66 cannot b,, correlated
to the date of the amendment so as to mean "the year next ensuing after the
year in which the amendment is made".
This reasoning overlooks the true
purpose and purport of the Committee's oower to amend a list at any time and
H
rob! that power of its meaningful content.
[286E-G]
(b) The Committee's power to amend an a~sessment list is not. Iim5ted bv
the consideration that the list has already become final by authentication. It
A
280
SUPRE£.'1E COURT REPORTS
[1978] 1 S.C.Jt.
bas the power to amend a list even after it is finalised and has alread.f come
iato force.
That is the important effect and implication of the expressian •at
any time."
[284A-B]
(c) It may be true to s.ay that the power ought to be exercised \Yit.b.in a
r.easonable time since the use of expression of a wide amplitude like 'a

## Text

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•
-.-
•
NEW DELHI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE
v.
LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA
August 9, 1977
\
(Y. V. CHANDRACHUD AND P. S. KAILASAM, JJ.J
279
Punjab Municipal Act, 1911--Ss. 66, 67 and 68A scope of-Certain property escaped asses.1n1e1U for five years-Power of Afunicfpal Conu11illec to
revise assess111ent-lf exists~'At any tfnu:' meaning of.
A
B
Section 66 of the Punjab h-funicipal Act, 1911 (which is the Act in force
in the New Delhi Municipal Area) prescribing the procedure for revision of
the valuation and assessment of property provides that "subject to such a1nendments as may thereafter be duly made the tax so assessed shall be deemed to
be the tax for the year con1mencing on the first day of January or first day of
C
April next ensuing as the Committee may determine." Section 67(1) provides
that the Committee may 'at any time' amend lhe list by altering the assessment
on any property which has been erroneously valued or assessed through fraud,
accident or mistake whether on the part of the Committee or of the asscssee,
after following the procedure prescribed therein. Section 68A which deals \vith
power to amend an assessment list in certain cases provides that where the
prescribed authority is satisfied that any property has been erroneously valued
or
assessed through fraud, accident or mistake, whether on the part of the
committee or of the as5essee, it may pass an order amending the assessment
D
already made and fixing the amount of tax payahle for that property and on the
issue of such an order the assessment list then in force shall be deemed to
have been amended accordingly with effect from first day of January or fin~t
day of April or first day of July or first day of October next follo~'ing the
month in which the order is passed.
In January, 1968 the appellant Municipal Committee issued a notice to the
respondent stating that it had decided to amend the lists of assessment for five
E
years (1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1966-67. 1967-68) on the gcound that the
rent of a portion of the basement of the building had e&caped inclusion in the
respective lists.
The respondent's writ petition was allowed by the High Court holding that
the assessment lists together with the amendments, if any, could only operate
prospectively in and for the fina11cial year next following and
not
for any
praiou~ year.
Allowing the appeal,
HELD : The Full Bench of the High Court was wrong in its conclusion
that the expression 'at any time' in s. 67 has reference only to the paint_ of
time when the list could be amended.
[286HJ
1 (a) That the amended list operates prospectively is correct because the
amendment is made to the original list and that list has prospective operation.
Each assessment list is effective for the ensuing year, so that the list settled
F
before 31st of March operates for the vear commencing with the ensuing 1st
G
of April and ending with the 31st of March following,
But the list in force
for such an ensuring year can under s. 67 be amended at any time \vil'h the
re~ult that when a list which was finalised say on March 25, 1970 is aniendPd
in August 1973, the amendment becomes effective for the year for which the
1ist itself was effective, that is to say, for the year April 1, 1970 to March 31.
1971.
The words "next ensuing" which occur in s. 66 cannot b,, correlated
to the date of the amendment so as to mean "the year next ensuing after the
year in which the amendment is made".
This reasoning overlooks the true
purpose and purport of the Committee's oower to amend a list at any time and
H
rob! that power of its meaningful content.
[286E-G]
(b) The Committee's power to amend an a~sessment list is not. Iim5ted bv
the consideration that the list has already become final by authentication. It
A
280
SUPRE£.'1E COURT REPORTS
[1978] 1 S.C.Jt.
bas the power to amend a list even after it is finalised and has alread.f come
iato force.
That is the important effect and implication of the expressian •at
any time."
[284A-B]
(c) It may be true to s.ay that the power ought to be exercised \Yit.b.in a
r.easonable time since the use of expression of a wide amplitude like 'at any
hme'. does not exclude the concept of reasonableness.
Subject to that consi~
deratlon, the power of amendment can be exercised even after Lhe expiry of ttic
B
year for which the list is to remain in force.
[284D]
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2(a) The reason why the Legislature, by s. 67, has
conferred
on the
l\funicipal Conrmittee the pO\\'er to amend an assessment list at any time i<>
that the omission, by reason of which a property has escaped assessment, mav
be discovered a long time after the list had ceased to be operative. The large·r
interest of the general pub1ic requires in such cases that the Municipal CotHmittee n1ust have the power to do what ought to have been done but \vhich.
for some reason or the other. had remained to be done.
[284-Gl
In the instant case, a part of the basement was al1eged to have
escaped
.'.issessment :1nd if that be true, the assessee could not in face of s. 67, raise, a
contention that the assessn1ent lists of past years, though faulty. could not be
corrected.
(b) The expression 'at any time· 1nust be given its full force and effect
which requires the recognition of the Committee's power to amend the assessment list even after the expiry of the year fo!lo·wing the one in which the list
was finalised by due authentication.
f285Bl
3.
Sections 66 and 67 have to be read as t\vo integr~ parts of a scheme
which the legislature has prescribed for preparation, assessn1cnt and a·mcnJn1ent of assessment lists.
The scheme contemplated by s. 66 is subject to an
imPortant condition mentioned in the section itself, namely, that the tax asses!ied
under an authenticated list becomes the tax for the particular period, "subject
to such amendments as may thereafter be duly made."
The \\'ord ·'thct'eaftcl'"
means "after the list is finalised on the completion of revision of valuation an<l
assessment", and "duly made" evidently refers to the exercise of the amending
powc~ under s. 67.
Thus.1 the tw9 sections, _read to~et~er. yiel~ the result that
tbe hst can be amended 'at any time after 1t' finaltsat1011, subject to the prescription of reasOnableness.
(285D-E]
Ther~forc, if the Con1mittec discovered, say in July 1970, that a property
had e.<;caped assessment since April 1. 1967 it posses<;es, und~r s. 67, the power
to make an appropriate amendment.
If everyone of the lists which wa...o;; in
force during the relevant year erroneously on1itted to include therein a certain
property, the amendment n1ade in July 1970. \vill cure each of the Ji-;.t<; from
the defect frl)ll1 \\·hith it suff~red.
f285Fl
4. A con1parison of the provisions of s. 68A with those of s. 61 sho\vs
that the v.rords of lirnit:ition conUt.ined in the former section as regards the time
fron1 vthich an amendrncnt can come into force arc conspicuously absent in the
latter.
Since the purpose cf s. s: is to bring to
::L<;<;essment properties which
have altogether cscape<l assessn1cnt the legislature evidently thought that amendments made unde1· it shoHld hnvc a wider operation as contril<;ted \'.'ith thosc111a<le under <;. 6RA.
f286Dl
Puniab l'./atio11al Bank v. !\'ell' De/Id Municipu/ Con1111ittee, [19731 3 S.C.R.
189, 193 and Municival Cornora1io11 of City of F-luhli v. Subfln Ran Hrr11uf1uu•lf1a
Rao Pnn·og and Oti:('rs. rt 976] 3 S.C.R. 883 held inapplicable.
Civn. APPELT.ATE JvRISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 289
1974.
of
From the Jude:ment and Order dated 27-3-73 of the DeU1i High
Court in Civil Writ No. 445 of 1968 and
}
··~
.1
N.D.M.C. v. L.I.C. ( Chandrachud, J.)
281
Civil Appeal No. 611/74
From the Judgment and Order dated 27-3-73 of the Delhi High
Court in Civil Writ No. 177 of 1968.
F. S. Nariman. Bikramjit Nayar, B. P. Maheshwari and
Suresh
Sethi for the Appellant (In both the appeals).
K. L. Hathi, Ravindra Sethi and P. C. Kapoor for
(In CA No. 289/74).
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Respondent
CHANDRACHUD, J.-These appeals, by a certificate of fitness granted by the Delhi High Court, arise out of a common judgment dated
March 27, 1973 given by the High Court in writ petitions filed by the
respondents against the appellant, the New. Delhi Municipal
Committee.
The facts of the two writ petitions being similar, we
will
only set out those of Civil Appeal No. 289 of 1974, which arises out
of a writ petition filed in the High Court by the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
For conveni-ence, we will refer to the appellant as 'the Municipal
/
Committee' and to the
respondent as 'the L.I.C.'.
The L.I.C.
is
the owner of a building known as 'Jeevan Vihar', Parliament Street,
New Delhi.
The Municipal Committee assessed the building
to
house-tax for the years 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1966-67
and
1967-68 on the basis of actual rent received by the L.I.C.
The
L.I.C. paid the tax as asses>ed for these years but in February 1968
it received five notices from the Municipal Committee stating,
that
in exercise of the powers conferred by s. 67 of the Punjab Municipal
Act, 3 of 1911, it had decided by a resolution dated January
27,
1968 to amend the lists of assessment for the aforesaid five years by
including therein the rent of a portion of the basement of the building
which had escaped inclusion in the respective lists.
In June 1968, the L.I.C. filed a writ petition in the Delhi High
Court praying that the aforesaid resolutions of the Municipal Committee be quashed and that it be restrained from realising the additional tax which it proposed to levy under its resolution,
on
the
ground that it had no jurisdiction under s. 67 of the Act to amend
the assessment lists of previous years.
In view of the importance
of the question, the writ petition w~s referred for decision to a full
bench of the High Court.
The High Court has held that the assessment lists settled under
s. 66 of the Act, together with the amendments if any, can only operate
prospectively in and for the. financial year next following and
not
for any previous year.
In this view, the High Court allowed the
writ petition except in regard to the amendment made in the list of
1967-68.
The other writ petition too was allowed except for the
year 1966-67.
Chapter V of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 deals with 'Taxation'.
Section 61 (l)(a) thereof authorises imposition of a tax payable by the owners on buildings and lands.
Section
62
provides
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
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that the Municipal Committee may, at a special meeting, pass a resolution proposing the imposition of any tax under s. 61.
Sections 63,
64, 65, 66 and 67 prescribe the procedure for assessing immovable
properties to property-tax.
Section 63 provides that the Committee
shall cause an assessment list to be prepared of all buildings
and
lands on which any tax is proposed to be imposed.
By s. 64,
on
completion of assessment list, the Committee is required to give public notice of the place where the list or a copy thereof may be inspected.
Section 65 requires the Committee, at the time of publication of this list, to give a public notice as to the time when it will proceed to revise the \Oaluation and assessment made in the list.
For
this purpose, the Committee is required to invite objections to the
valuation and assessment within the time fixed in the notice.
The question for decision in these appeals depends primarily on
the construction of ss. 66 and 67 of the Act, which must be reproduced fully.
These sections read as follows :
"66( 1) After the objections have been enquired
into
and the persons making them have been allowed an opportunity of being heard either in person or by authorized agent,
as they may think fit, and the revision of the valuation and
assessment has been completed, the amendments made in
the list shall be authenticated by the signatures of not less
than two members of the committee, who shall at the same
time certify that no valid objection has been made to
the
valuation and assessment contained in the list, except in the
cases in which amendments have been entered therein; and,
subject to such amendments as may thereafter be duly made,
the tax so assessed shall be deemed to be the tax for the year
commencing on the first day of January or first day of April
next ensuing as the committee may determine, or in the case
of a tax then imposed for the first time for the periOd between the date on which the tax comes into force and such
first day of January or April, as the case may be.
(2) The list when amended under this section shall be
deposited. in the committee's office and shall there be open
during office hours to all owners or occupiers of property
comprised therein or the authorized agents of such persons,
and a public notice that it is so open shall forthwith
be
published.
67.(1) The committee
may at any
time amend
the
list inserting the name of any person whose name ought to
have been or ought to be inserted or by inserting any property which ought to have been or ought to be inserted, or
by altering the assessment on any property which has been
erroneously valued or assessed through fraud, accident
or
mistake, whether on the part of the committee or of the assessee, or in the case of a tax payable by the occupier by
a change in the tenancy, after giving notice to any person
affected by the amendment, of a time, not less than
one
month from the date of service, at which the amendment is
to be made.
\ __ -
\
N.D.M.C. v. L.I.C. (Chandrachud, J.)
283
(2) Any person interested in any such amendment may
tender his objection to the committee in writing before the
time fixed in the notice, or orally or in writing at that time,
and shall be allowed an opportunity of being heard in support of the same in person, or by authorized agent, as he may
think fit."
By section 68, the Municipal Committee has the discrdion to prepare a new assessment list every year or to adopt the valuation and
assessment contained in the list for any year as the valuation
and
assessment for the following year.
Section 68A which, like s. 67,
deals with the power to amend assessment lists reads thus :
"68A. Power to amend assessment list in certain cases.-
( l) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Chapter,
where the prescribed authority is satisfied that any property
has been erroneously valued or assessed through fraud, accident or mistake, whether on the part of the committee or
of the assessee, it may, after giving to the assessee an opportunity of being heard and after making such enquiry as it
may deem fit, pass an order amending the assessment already made and fixing the amount of tax payable for that
property and on the issue of such an order the assessment
list then in force shall, subject to the order, if any, passed
in appeal, be deemed to have been amended accordingly
with effect from first day of January, or first day of
April,
or first day of July, or first day of October next following
the month in which the order is passed.
(2) Any person aggrieved by an order of the prescribed
authority may, within a period of thirty days of the date of
communication to him of the order, file an appeal to the
State Government which shall decide the appeal after giving
to the appellant an opportunity of being heard."
Section 68A, it must be stated, was introduced by Act 8 of 1974
and there was
no corresponding provision in the Act at the time
when the lists in question were amended.
In order to determine the scope and extent of the Municipal Committee's power to amend an assessment list and the effect of
an
amendment made in a list, regard must necessarily be had to 'the language of the statute under consideration and its overall scheme governing the preparation and amendment of assessment lists.
Decisions
on other Municipal Acts containing similar provisions may with profit be perused but they cannot be considered as binding pronouncements on the Act which we have to construe in these appeals.
In the first place, the Municipal Committee has the undoubted
power under s. 67 to amend an assessment list "at any time." The
width of this power may justifiably be curtailed by reading the expression "at any time" to mean "within a reasonable time" as was canvassed in Punjab National Bank v. New Delhi Municipal Committee(!) but
the question of reasonableness does not arise in this case and was no!
---------
(!) [1973] 3 S.C.R. 189, 193,
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
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raised in the High Court.
The point of importance is that the Committee's power to amend an assessment list is not limited by the consideration that the list has already become final by authentication. It
has the power to amend a list even after it.is finalised and has already
come into force.
That is the important effect and implication
of
the expression "at any time", which cannot be overlooked. Assessment lists relating to property tax are generally finalised by authentication before the 31st of March and are made operative from the ensuing 1st of April to the following 31st of March.
In exercise of the
power conferred by s. 67, the Con1n1ittee can a1nend a list even after
the 3 lst of March, despite the fact that the list has been finalised
and has come into force.
The argument that an assessment list cannot be amended under s. 67 after its finalisation was rejected by thi
Court in the Punjab National Bank case ('supra).
If the Municipality is expressly given the power by s. 67 to amend
an assessment list "at any time" and if in pursuance of that
power
a list can be amended after it has come into force, it is difficult to appreciate how any extra-statutory limitation can be placed upon that power.
\,
It may be assumed that the power ought to be exercised within a rea-
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sonable time since, the use of expressions of wide amplitude like "at
any time" does not exclude the concept of reasonableness. But subject
to that consideration, the power of amendment can be exercised even
after the expiry of the year for which the list is to remain in force.
In other words, it is not necessary that the list which was finalised,
say on the 31st of March 1963 must, if at all, be amended before the
31st of March 1964.
The list can be amended any time later which
E
mean·s that it can be amended even after the expiry of the 3 J st of
March 1964.
Section 67 of the Act itself shows the object and purpose
of
conferring on the Municipal Committee the power to amend
an
assessment list.
If the name of a person whose name ought to be
F
inserted in the list has been omitted or if a property which ought to
be included in the list has been omitted or if a property has been
erroneously valued or assessed through fraud, accident or mistake on
the part of either party, or if the tenancy has changed in those cases
in which the tax is payable by the occupier, it becomes manifestly
necessary to make appropriate amendments in the assessment list.
The reason why the legislature, by s. 67, has conferred on the
G
Municipal Committee the power to amend an assessment list at any
time is that the omission, by reason of which a proper\y has escaped
assessment, may be discovered a long time after the list has
ceased
to be operative.
The larger interest of the general public requires
in such cases that the Municipal Committee which is under a statutory
obligation to provide civic amenities to the people, must have
the
power to do what ought to have been done but which, for some reason
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or the other, had remained to be done.
{n the instant case, a part
"-
of the basement is alleged to have escaped assessment and if that be
true, we are unable to understand that the assessee, the L.I.C. here,
conld in face of s.
67 raise a contention that the assessment lists of
j ,
'
N.D.M.C. v. L.l.C. (Chandrachud, /.)
285
past years, though faulty, cannot now be corrected.
The Municipal
Committee has to find funds, within the limits of its authority, for
discharging its statutory obligations.
But the argument is that if,
through mistake or oversight, or even due to fraud, a property has
escaped assessment, the mistake cannot be corrected retrospectively
and the fraud has to be suffered except in regard to a
correction
limited to the ensuing year.
This is denying to the expression "at
any time' even its plain, grammatical meaning, quite apart
from
ignoring the context in which it occurs and the beneficent purpose. of
its incorporation.
The expression must, in our opinion, be given its
full force and effect which requires the recognition of the Committee's
power to amend an assessment list even after the expiry of the year
following the. one in which the list was finalised by due authentication.
Sections 66 and 67 have to be read as two integral parts of
a
seheme which the legislature has prescribed for preparation, assessment and amendment of assessment lists.
After preparing under
s. 63 an assessment list of all buildings and lands on which a tax is
proposed to be imposed, the Committee has to invite, hear and enquire into objections to the proposed assessment.
The revision of
valuation and assessment is then to be completed undu s. 66
by
incorporating in the list such amendments as are considered necessary
after deciding upon objections.
The tax so asses·sed in the authenticated 'list becomes under s. 66 ( !), the tax for the year commencing
on the first day of January or first day of April next ensuing as the
Committee may d~termine.
Btit the scheme contemplated by s. 66
is subject to an important condition mentioned in the section itself,
namely, that the tax assessed under an authenticated list becomes the
tax for the particular period, "subject to such amendments as may
thereafter be duly made''.
The word "thereafter" means "after the
list is finalised on the completion of revision of valuatior; and assessment" and "duly made" evidently refers to the exercise of the amending power under s. 67.
Thus, the two sections read together yield
the result that the list can be amended at any time. after its finalisation,
subject of course to the prescription of reasonableness.
What effect then does an amendment duly made under s. 67 have on
the list of assessment ?
If the Committee· discovers, say in
July
1970, that a property has escaped assessment since April 1, 1967
it possesses under s. 67 the power to make an appropriate amendment.
What is often overlooked is that though the amendment may
ha>1e
been made in 1970, what the Committee amends is the lists which
were in force from April 1, 1967 to March 31, 1968, April 1, 1968
to March 31, 1969. April 1, 1969 to March 31, 1970, and
April
1 1970 to March 31, 1971.
If ev~ry one of these four lists which
V:ere in force during the respective years erroneously omitted to include therein a certain property, the amendment made in July 1970
will cure each of the lists from the defect from which it suffered. It
is wrong to think that an amendment made in July 1970 "'.ill operate
only on the list for the year then current or the year ensumg. Such
a view lacks the support of the text of the statute.
Section 68A, it is true, came into force in 197 4 but by providing
a striking contrast with s. 67, it facilitates a clearer understanding of
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
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this latter section.
Section 68A provides briefly that if any property
is erroneously valued or assessed through fraud, accident or mistake,
the prescribed authority may amend the assessment already made
and thereupon the amended assessment list shall be deemed to have
been amended with effect from the first day of January, or April, or
July, or October next following the month in which the order
of
amendment is passed.
Section 68A does not deal with cases in which
a property has escaped assessment altogether.
It deals with that
limited class of cases in which a property has been included in
the
assessment list but has been erroneously valued or assessed.
In such
cases of erroneous valuation or assessment, the amendments
made
in the assessment lists have no retrospective operation with the result
that valuation or assessment already made, though
erroneous, remains valid for the past years.
Amendments falling within s. 68A
op.erate in the future and can be effective only from the dates mentioned in the section and not from any earlier point of time.
A
comparison of the provisions of s. 68A with those of s. 67 shows that
the words of limitation contained in the former section as regards the
time from which an amendment can come into force are conspicuously
absent in the latter.
Since the purpose of s. 67 is to bring to assessment properties which have altogether escaped assessment, the legislature evidently thought that amendments made under it should
have
a wider operation as contra·sted with those made under s. 68A.
The Full Bench of the High Court, with respect, has missed the
real point in the case.
It says that since by s. 66, both the unamended and the amended lists operate with effect from the year commencing on the first day of January or April "next ensuing", "the
list
settled under section 66 together with the amendments, if any, is to
operate prospectively in and for the financial year next following and
not for any previous year."
That the amended list operates
prospectively is correct because after all, the amendment is made to
the
original list and that list has prospective operation.
As we
have
explained above, each assessment list is effective for the ensuing year,
so that the list settled b~fore 31st of March operates for the year commencing with the ensuing 1st of April and ending with the 31st
of
March following.
But the list in force for such an ensuing
year
can under s. 67 be amended at any time with the result that when a
list which was finalised say on March 25, 1970 is amended in August
1973, the amendment becomes effective for the year for which
the
list itself was effective, that is to say, for the year April 1, 1970 to
March 31, 1971.
The words 'next ensuring" which occur in s. 66
cannot as the High Court thinks, be correlated to the date of the
amendment so as to mean "the year next ensuing after the year in
which the amendment is made."
This reasoning overlooks the true
purpose and purport of the Committee·s power to amend a list at any
time and robs that power of its meaningful content.
We are clear
that the Full Bench is wrong in its conclusion that the "expression 'at
any time' in s. 67 ...... bas reference only to the point of time when
the list can be amended."
We may in passing observe, though that aspect of the matter ceases
to have importance in the view we are disposed to take, that
the
N.D.M.C. v. L.I.C. (Chandrachud, J.)
287
High Court further fefi into an error in applying the ratio of its judgment to the facts before it.
It held that an amendment can operate
only on the year ensuing the ·one in which it is made, but in working
out this principle, it unwittingly gave some retrospective effect to the
impugned amendments.
It has declared that the amendment made
jn January 1967 will be effective for the year 1966-67 and that made
in February 1968 will be effective for the year 1967-68.
Consistently with its reasoning, it should have held that the two amendments
would be effective for the years 1967-68 and 1968-69 respectively,
each year commencing on April 1 and ending with March 31.
But
that, as we said, is not relevant.
The decision of this Court in Punjab National Bank (supra) on
which counsel for the L.I.C. relies does not support the view con·
'!ended for by him. In that case a building belonging to the Punjab
National Bank was not entered in the assessment list which was to be
operative for the period April 1, 1958 to March 31, 1959. That list
was amended on December 21, 1959. The only point that arose for
consideration in the appeal, as is expressly mentioned by Mathew, J.,
in his judgment, was whether the Municipal Committee was entitled
to include the building in the assessment list which was operative from
April I, 1959 to March 31, 1960 by amending it in December 1959.
Repelling the Bank's contention that the list once finalised could not
be amended thereafter, the Court held that the amendment was effective for. the year during which the orginal list was operative.
Finally, we are unable to accept the contention of the learned
counsel for the L.I.C. that the question which arises for our consideration in these appeals is concluded by a decision of this Court
in
Municipal Corporation of City of Hubli v~ Subha Rao Hanumantharao
Prayag and Others.(')
That is a decision on the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act 18 of 1925, and as the judgment of Bhagwati, J.,
in that very case says, in interpreting a particular provision of a statute
the court must consider other parts of that statute and read the statute
as a whole.
We have discussed the entire scheme of the Punjab
Municipal Act and have pointed out how on a consideration of
its
various provisions it is not possible to sustain the view taken by the
High Court.
·
In Municipal Corporation of City of Hubli,(')
on which the respondent strongly relies, the Corporation followed the due procedure
for the assessment year 1951-52 except that the list of assessment
containing the revfised assessment was authenticated on July 24, 1952
which was after the expiry of the official year on March 31, 1952.
The Corporation having sought to levy property tax in accordance with
the revised rates for the year 1951-52, a suit was filed by the assessees for a declaration that it was not entitled to recover the tax at the
revised rates fQr that year.
The suit was decreed by the Trial Court
and the High Court.
In appeal to this Court, two contentions were
raised on behalf of the Municipal Corporation, namely that (I) the
authentication of the assessment list in order to be valid and effective
need not be made before the expiry of the official year to which the
(I) (1976] 3 S.C.R. 88).
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
A
B
c
D
E
F
288
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1978] 1 S.C.R.
assessment list relates and (2) the suit was barred under s. 206A of
the Act.
We are not concerned with the second question nor indeed
with the first; but in order to understand the respondent's argument it
is necessary to state that this Court held on the first question that an
assessment list intended for a particular year must be, authenticated
before the expiry of the previous official year and that if it is
not
so authenticated it will not give rise to any liability in the rate-payers
to pay to the tax for the year for which it is intended to be effective.
This pronouncement does not touch the points in controversy before
us.
Nor indeed can any assistance be derived from the interpretation
put on s. 82 ( 3) of the Bombay Act in that case.
That provision
·contemplates, inkr alia, amendments or alterations in two cases :
(iJ Tha&e in regard to buildings constructed, altered, added to or reconstructed and (ii) those in regard to other cases.
As regards the
first category, sec. 82 (3) of the Bombay Municipal Boroughs
Act
provides that the amendment or alteration shall have the same effect
as if it had been made in the case of a building constructed, altered,
added to or reconstructed on the day on which such
construction,
alteration, addition or reconstruction was completed or on the day on
which the new construction, alteration, addition or reconstruction was
first occupied, whichever first occurs.
As regards the second category, namely the "other cases", the alteration takes effect as if it had
been made on the earliest day in the current official year on which
the circumstances justifying the entry or alteration existed."
The
discussion of this sub-section at page 890 of the report is in respect
of the second category of cases in regard to which there is an express
statutory provision that the amendment takes effect only from
the
earliest day of the official year ct·•·rent when the amendment is made.
We do not think that there is any parallel between s. 82 ( 3) of the
Bombay Act and s. 67 of the Punjab Municipal Act.
For these reasons we allow these appeals and set aside
the
judgment of the High Court.
The writ petitions filed by the
respondents will, as a consequence, stand dismissed.
The appellant
will be entitled to its costs in one set which shall be recovered from
the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
P.B.R.
Ap(leal allowed'.