TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1976 (8) TMI 158
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....se Rs. 125/and for Verandah (Padvi) Rs. 25/-. By another resolution dated 10 August, 1964 the respondent revised the tax on house at the rate of 40 nP. for Rs. 100/- The resolution further said that for factories as a concession the tax would be 25 nP for Rs. 100/- on capital value. The appellant has factory buildings. The respondent by a notice dated 10 January, 1969 made a demand of taxes on the factory building of the appellant for the years 1967-68 and 1968-69. The respondent charged at the rate of 25 nP for Rs. 100/-. The respondent did not charge the appellant at the rate of 40 nP for Rs. 100/- which was the increased rate pursuant to the resolution dated 10 August, 1964. The respondent thereafter made a demand in the year 1969-70. The aggregate tax involved in this appeal comes to Rs. 1,34,763/- for the years 1967-68, 1968-69 and 1969-70. The appellant contended that in 1952 when the resolution was passed by the respondent levying taxes on houses the respondent was not empowered to tax factory buildings. The principal reason advanced by the appellant is that only in 1954 the word "building" was substituted for the word "house", and, therefore, the respondent would have....
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....d lands which are not subject to payment of agricultural assessment within the limits of the village m such manner and at such rates as may be prescribed. (1A) Every panchayat in the districts of Kolaba, Ratnagiri and Kanara shall levy a tax upon the owners or occupiers of houses including farm buildings whether or not subject t0 payment of agricultural assessment and of lands which are not subject to payment of agricultural assessment, within the limits of the village in such manner and at such rates as may be prescribed. (1B) The rules made for .the levy of the, tax specified in subsection (1 )and (1 A) may provide that the payment of such tax may be made either in cash or by the rendering of work and labour." In 1947 section 89 was amended as follows :-- "(1) Every panchayat shall levy a tax upon the owners or occupiers of houses including farm buildings Whether or not subject to payment of agricultural assessment and of land which are not subject to payment of agriculural assessment, within the limits of the village, in such manner, at such rates and subject to such exemptions as may be prescribed. (1A) Where an owner of a house or land has left the village or cannot o....
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....d in exercise of powers conferred on the respondent by section 89(1) of the Act. The principal conten- tion of the appellant is that the word "house" means dwelling house. The appellant relied on the decision in Wimbledon Urban District Council v. Hastings(87 Law Times Reports 118.) and Lewin v. End([1906] A.C. 299. ) in support of the proposition that the expression "house" means a dwelling house. The appellant sought to support the contention by reference to the fact that the word "house" which occurred in section 89 of the Act was substituted by the word "building" in 195, indicating that factory buildings would not be within the meaning of the word "house". The word "house" is not defined in the Act. This Court in Ramavtar v. Assistant Sales Tax Officer, Akola([1962] 1 S.C.R. 279.) said that the correct approach is to construe the word in that sense which people conversant with the subject matter with which the statute is dealing would attribute to it. Counsel for the respondent rightly contended that the word "house" would in its ordinary sense include any building irrespective of its user. To ascertain the meaning of the word "house" one must understand the subject matter ....
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.... intended or used as a habitation or shelter for animals of any kind, a building in the ordinary sense or any building, edifice, or structure inclosed with walls and covered, regardless of the fact of human habitation. Again in Corpus Juris Secundum Vol. 41 page 365 it is said that under particular circumstances, the term has been held equivalent to and interchangeable or synonymous with "building", "dwelling" and "dwelling house" and sometimes "premises". The 1952 resolution of the Gram Panchayat in the present case is to be understood in the background of the provisions contained in section 89 of the Act and the rules framed under section 108 of the Act. The rules were placed before the legislature for approval. The rules framed in 2934 used the words "lands and buildings" instead of the words "lands and houses". The rules are a legitimate aid to construction of the statute as Contemporanea Expositio (See Craies on Statute Law 6th Edition p. 157). The rules flamed in 1943 defined "house" as any building or set of buildings within the same enclosure. In the Amending Act of 1945 the expressions "farm buildings" and "houses" are used without distinction. The Act in 1933 confer....
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....s to bring such farm buildings within the province of assessment. The amendment in 1952 added a tax on premises where machinery is run by steam, oil, electric power or manual labour in trade or business and not for agricultural or domestic purposes. This addition of clause (vi) (b) to section 89(2) of the Act illustrates one more kind of optional tax as different from obligatory tax on houses and lands within section 89 ( 1 ) of the Act. The amendment of 1954 where the word "building" was substituted for the word "house" does not help the appellant to suggest that factories will be included only within buildings and not within houses. The appellant referred to statement of objects and reasons which said that the village panchayat could not levy a tax on buildings, and, therefore, the word "buildings" was substituted for the word "houses". The statement of objects and reasons is ordinarily not used as aid to construction of a statute. A statement is some- times referred to for the limited purposes of finding the object of the legislature in enacting the statute where all other methods of interpretation fail. The words "houses and lands" as used in section 89 of the Act mean al....