1954 (1) TMI 42

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....titioners are residents of three villages, Mihijam, Kanungui and Anui which have been formed into a Notified Area Committee known as the "Mihijam Notified Area Committee' set up by a notification issued by the Government of Bihar. The draft notification was issued on 4-7-1950 inviting objections or suggestions from the persons likely to be affected. On 5-1-1951 the Government of Bihar acting in exercise of the powers under Sections 383 and 389 of the Bihar & Orissa Municipal Act applied to the Notified Area of Mihijam various provisions of the Act mentioned in the schedule to the notification. There was another notification dated 7-9-1951 wherein the Government sanctioned the imposition of holding tax by the Mihijam Notified Area ....

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....f Local Self Government and a legislation which authorises the formation of a committee, all the members of which are nominees of the Government, would not be constitutional. The contention of the counsel is that such a legislation would fall beyond the legislative competence of the State Legislature. It is not necessary for the purposes of this case to express a concluded opinion whether such a legislation would fall within the ambit of Item 5 of the State List, for it would be a wrong approach to decide the validity of the law in the present case with reference to the legislative competence conferred by different items of the State List. It should be noticed that the impugned Act was passed in 1922, even before the coming into force of th....

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....at it should be held by implication that there was no power of taxation vest-ed in the Notified Area Committee. This argument overlooks however the provisions of Section 389 (a) which runs as follows: "The Local Government may by notification apply or adapt to notified area or to any part of a notified area any provision of this Act which may be applied to a municipality, or any rule or by-law, in force or which can be made in any Municipality under this or any other Act". In the present case the learned Government Advocate produced a copy of the notification of the Local Government which is annexed to the counter-affidavit. This notification applies the provisions of Chapter IV of the Bihar and Orissa Municipal Act along with ....

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....nicipality. The language of Section 389 (a) is unqualified and there is nothing in the context of the Act to suggest that the Local Government have no authority to apply the provision as to taxation under Section 389(a) of this Act to a notified area or to any part of a notified area. The argument advanced on behalf of the petitioners on this part of the case must be rejected as unsound. 5. Lastly the contention on behalf of the petitioners is that the notification under Section 388 is invalid since the Local Government have not described in detail for what purposes the notified area was constituted. The notification of the Government dated 4-7-1950 mentions that "it is necessary to make administrative provision for the purpose of the....