Statutory tax imposition requires completed legal process before recovery; mere direction cannot validate an urban development cess levy.

An order directing Municipal Committees to impose urban development cess did not itself create a valid levy under the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911. The statute required the Committees to impose the tax, and if they failed to act, the State Government had to impose or modify it under Section 62A(3) before the levy could operate as lawfully imposed. Because the Committees did not impose the cess and the State Government did not complete the statutory process, the recovery lacked legal authority. The conclusive-evidence provision in Section 62(12) applied only after lawful imposition, so it could not validate an uncompleted levy. Refund with interest was therefore indicated.

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Issues: Whether the urban development cess on kapas, narma and oil seeds was validly imposed and recoverable under the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, and whether the notification could operate as conclusive evidence of lawful imposition under the statutory scheme.

Analysis: An order under Section 62A(1) of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 does not itself impose a tax; it only requires the Municipal Committees to impose it. If the Committees fail to act, the State Government may impose or modify the tax under Section 62A(3), and only then does the order operate as if it were a resolution duly passed by the Committee. Section 62(12) applies where a tax has in fact been imposed in accordance with Section 62, or where the State Government has imposed it under Section 62A(3). In the present case, the order merely directed the Committees to impose the cess, the Committees did not do so, and the State Government did not thereafter impose the cess under Section 62A(3). The levy therefore lacked statutory foundation, and the cited precedents did not assist the appellant.

Conclusion: The cess was not validly imposed and its recovery was without the authority of law.

Final Conclusion: The appeals failed, and the respondents were held entitled to refund of the collected amounts with interest at 12 per cent per annum.

Ratio Decidendi: A notification or direction cannot sustain a fiscal levy unless the statute's prescribed mode of imposition is actually completed by the competent authority; conclusive-evidence clauses operate only after lawful imposition under the Act.

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