Ownership of buildings on leased Government land depends on the superstructure, not the soil, for annual value taxation.

A lessee who erects buildings on Government land and retains a contractual right to remove them on termination remains the owner of the superstructure. Ownership of the building is not displaced by the lessor's ownership of the underlying soil, because Section 9 taxes the annual value of property consisting of buildings or lands appurtenant thereto where the assessee is the owner. The provision does not require ownership of the land itself. On that basis, the buildings were treated as the assessee's property and brought to tax on their annual value.

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Issues: Whether the assessee, who erected buildings on Government land held under lease with a right to remove the buildings on termination, remained the owner of the buildings and was assessable to tax on their annual value under Section 9.

Analysis: The right to remove the buildings showed that the assessee, and not the Government, retained ownership of the superstructure. The fact that the land belonged to the lessor did not make ownership of the buildings dependent on ownership of the soil. Section 9(1) taxed the bona fide annual value of property consisting of buildings or lands appurtenant thereto of which the assessee is the owner, and the provision did not require ownership of the underlying land.

Conclusion: The assessee was the owner of the buildings and was assessable on their annual value under Section 9.

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