Non-agricultural land assessment tax requires ownership or statutory leasehold liability, not mere permissive possession of State-owned land.

Non-agricultural land assessment tax fastens primarily on the owner under the charging provision, and recovery from an occupier is permissible only where the Act specifically allows it. The text explains that a person in permissive possession of State-owned land, without ownership or leasehold status, is not liable where the land continues to vest in the State Government and does not fall within the statutory exception for land leased for non-agricultural purposes. In that situation, the charging provision does not apply and recovery is not authorised.

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Issues: Whether non-agricultural land assessment tax could be levied on the petitioner in respect of land owned by the State Government but held by the petitioner in permissive possession for industrial use.

Analysis: The Act fastens the primary liability for non-agricultural land assessment tax on the owner under the charging provision, while recovery from an occupier arises only in the circumstances specified by the Act. The definition of owner includes a lessee in relation to Government land leased for non-agricultural purposes, but the petitioner was neither an owner nor a lessee. The land continued to vest in the State Government and was covered by the statutory exemption for land owned by the State Government, since it was not shown to have been leased out for commercial or industrial purposes or to generate income for a local authority. In these circumstances, the charging provision did not apply to the petitioner and recovery from it was not authorised.

Conclusion: The levy and assessment of tax on the petitioner were without authority of law and the challenge succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where land remains owned by the State Government and is not leased out for a non-agricultural purpose within the statutory exception, a person in permissive possession without ownership or leasehold status cannot be treated as liable to non-agricultural land assessment tax.

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