Municipal taxation delegation upheld where statutory purpose and supervision supplied the standard, and "modify" covered tax enhancement.

Municipal taxation powers were upheld where the statute confined levy to purposes of the Act, kept the power within municipal functions, and subjected it to governmental approval, so there was no unconstitutional abdication of legislative power. The Court also held that a provision empowering the municipality to "modify" a tax could extend beyond reduction and include enhancement, because the statutory context showed an intention to widen the power and the marginal note could not control the clear text. The levy was therefore sustained in substance.

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Issues: (i) Whether the power conferred on the municipality by Section 59(1)(xi) was an unconstitutional abdication of legislative power. (ii) Whether Section 60 of the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act, 1925 authorised enhancement of an existing tax by alteration of the rule prescribing it.

Issue (i): Whether the power conferred on the municipality by Section 59(1)(xi) was an unconstitutional abdication of legislative power.

Analysis: The provision confined municipal taxation to taxes for the purposes of the Act and within the limits of municipal functions. The taxing power remained subject to governmental approval, and the nature of the permissible tax was indicated by the scheme and setting of the enumerated heads. The legislature was therefore not divested of its essential function, and the delegation was controlled by principle and standard.

Conclusion: The delegation was valid and the provision was not unconstitutional.

Issue (ii): Whether Section 60 of the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act, 1925 authorised enhancement of an existing tax by alteration of the rule prescribing it.

Analysis: The body of Section 60 used the word "modify" in addition to "suspend" and "abolish". The marginal note could not control clear statutory language. The substitution of "modify" for the earlier word "reduce" showed an intention to widen the power beyond mere diminution. The same Act also used "modification" in a sense capable of including increase, confirming that alteration could operate both ways.

Conclusion: Section 60 authorised enhancement as well as reduction of an existing tax.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the municipal levy failed in substance, and the municipality's taxing action was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A delegation to a local authority to impose taxes is valid where the statute supplies the governing purpose and standard and keeps the power under supervisory control, and the word "modify" in a taxing provision is capable of including enhancement when the statutory context so indicates.

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