Municipal boundary is the measuring point for wealth-tax residential house exemption distance, not the municipality's centre.

For the wealth-tax residential house exemption, the distance condition under section 5(1)(iv) is measured from the limits of the municipal area, not from the municipality's central point. The phrase "from any area" was read as referring to the municipal area as a whole, and no rule under the Wealth-tax Act prescribed a central-point method of calculation. On that construction, a house must be more than five miles from the municipal boundary to qualify, and the exemption was unavailable where that distance was not shown.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of section 5(1)(iv) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, the distance of a residential house from a municipality is to be measured from the central point of the municipality or from the limits of the municipal area.

Analysis: The exemption under section 5(1)(iv) applies only where the house is in a place with population not exceeding ten thousand and is more than five miles distant from any area for which there is a municipality whose population exceeds ten thousand. The language of the provision points to the municipal area as the relevant starting point for measurement, and the statutory limits of a municipality are separately demarcated under the municipal law. No rule under the Wealth-tax Act prescribed a central point for such calculation, and the general rule on measurement of distance did not supply one. The term "from any area" was treated as referring to the municipal area as a whole, so distance had to be reckoned from the boundary of that area.

Conclusion: The distance must be measured from the limits of the municipality and not from its central point. The assessee's house was not shown to be more than five miles from the municipal boundary, so the exemption was not available.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a tax exemption depends on a house being more than a specified distance from a municipality, the distance must be computed from the boundary of the municipal area unless the statute expressly provides another point of measurement.

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