Right of appeal under the Kerala Plantations Tax Act cannot be curtailed by subordinate rule beyond statutory exclusions.

Section 9(1) of the Kerala Plantations Tax Act, 1960 confers a general right of appeal against assessments and orders under the Act, subject only to the specific statutory exclusions for assessments under sections 5(4) and 6. Rule 5(a) permits a straightaway assessment where no objection is filed to the revision notice under section 3(3), but the proviso to rule 10(a) attempted to bar appeals from such assessments. The subordinate rule was treated as invalid to that extent because it enlarged the restriction on appeal beyond the limits fixed by the parent Act. An appeal therefore remained available against the section 3(3) assessment.

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Issues: Whether the proviso to rule 10(a) of the Kerala Plantations (Additional Tax) Revision of Assessment Rules, 1965, was ultra vires section 9(1) of the Kerala Plantations Tax Act, 1960, insofar as it barred an appeal against an assessment made under section 3(3) read with rule 5(a).

Analysis: Section 9(1) of the Act conferred a right of appeal against an assessment or order under the Act, subject only to the express statutory bars relating to assessments under section 5(4) and section 6. Rule 5(a) authorised a straightaway assessment where no objections were filed to the notice for revision of extent under section 3(3). The proviso to rule 10(a), by barring an appeal against an assessment under rule 5(a), expanded the statutory restriction beyond the limits laid down in section 9(1). A subordinate rule could not curtail the appellate remedy where the parent Act did not do so.

Conclusion: The proviso to rule 10(a) was ultra vires section 9(1) to the extent it barred appeals against assessments other than those expressly excluded by the Act. An appeal lay against the assessment under section 3(3), and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

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