Civil suit maintainability in property tax disputes remains limited, as no absolute bar arises absent express or implied exclusion.

Civil court jurisdiction is excluded only where barred expressly or by necessary implication, and the municipal appeal scheme was read against that general rule. The existence of an appeal against property tax assessment, together with a pre-deposit requirement and finality clause, did not amount to an absolute statutory bar in the same way as an express exclusion of civil suits. An onerous pre-deposit may also make the alternative remedy ineffective in practice. A civil suit challenging assessment and levy of property tax under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 is therefore not absolutely barred, though its maintainability is confined to the limited category of cases permitted by law; the matter was remitted for fresh consideration of maintainability.

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Issues: Whether a civil suit challenging assessment and levy of property tax under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 is absolutely barred, or whether such a suit remains maintainable within a limited scope.

Analysis: The statutory scheme was examined in the light of the general rule under Section 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 that civil court jurisdiction is excluded only where barred expressly or by necessary implication. The provisions conferring appeal against assessment, imposing a pre-deposit condition, and giving finality to appellate orders were contrasted with enactments containing an express civil court bar. The distinction between an express bar and an implied bar was treated as critical. The discussion also proceeded on the footing that an onerous pre-deposit requirement may make the statutory remedy illusory, and that the availability of an appeal does not by itself extinguish the civil court's jurisdiction in all cases. The earlier authorities were reconciled by holding that the remedy under the municipal law does not create an absolute prohibition against a civil suit, though the suit must be confined to the narrow category of cases permitted by law.

Conclusion: A civil suit challenging assessment and levy of property tax under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 is not absolutely barred, but its scope is limited; the impugned order was set aside and the suit was restored for fresh consideration of maintainability.

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