1976 (10) TMI 151

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....66 and remitting the matter to the Municipal Commissioner for a fresh determination of the annual value of the building. The building in question is known as "Viram Lodge", on Ravindra Nath Tagore Marg, Indore. It belongs to the respondent and has been used by them as a hotel. The annual gross rental value of the building was determined at Rs. 6600/in 1956. It was revised by the Assessment Officer on June 3, 1965 and was raised to Rs. 43,405.20. The respondents filed objections to the valuation, but the Municipal Commissioner fixed the annual value at Rs. 43,405.20. He held that, in view of the "non-obstante" clause in section 138(b) of the Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956, hereinafter referred to as the Act, there was n....

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.... clause. It is nobody's case that they have any bearing on the short point in controversy before us. Clause (c) of the section prescribes that if the gross annual rent of a building cannot be determined under clause (b), the annual value of the building shall be determined according to that clause. If is not in controversy before us that the Viram Lodge was never let on rent, and is being run as a hotel by its owners, the present respondents, so that the .question of fixing its standard rent under s. 7 of the Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act, 1961, has not arisen. It has argued that, even so, the reasonable rent contemplated by s. 138(b) of the Act cannot exceed the standard rent to be fixed under the aforesaid section 7. It has thu....

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....s nothing to show that there has been fraud or collusion, that would be its reasonable letting value, hit, where this is not so, and the building has never been let out and is being used in a manner where the question of fixing its standard rent does not arise, it would be permissible to fix its reasonable rent without regard to the provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act, 1961. This view will, in our opinion, give proper effect to the non-obstante clause in clause (b with due regard to its Other provision that the letting value should be "reasonable". We have gone through the decision in Padma Debi's case (supra). There the premises were on rent and section 127(a) of Calcutta Municipal Corporation Act, 1923, did not c....

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....dard rent that the building might fetch under that Act. We have also gone through Corporation of Calcutta v. Life Insurance,Corporation of India (supra). That was also a case where the premises had been let out on rent. The standard rent had also been fixed, and that was why Padma Debi's case (supra) was held to be applicable. So also, Guntur Municipal Council v. Guntur Town Rate Payers' Association (supra) was a case where the premises.were on rent and there also Padma Debi's case was held to be applicable even though the standard rent had not been fixed, because it was held that there was nothing to prevent the authorities concerned from ascertaining the fair rent by keeping in view the principles which had been laid down for its deter....