Judgment :- 1. The question for decision in this writ appeal is whether the appellant who holds a plantation on lease from Government, is liable to pay plantation tax in respect of it under the Kerala Plantations (Additional Tax) Act, 1960, Act 17 of 1960, hereinafter referred to as the Act. The principal contention of the appellant was that the plantation in question being "land belonging to Government" and therefore exempt from basic tax under the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961, Act 13 of 1961, and plantation tax being additional to basic tax the appellant is not liable. 2.Plantation is defined in S.2 (6) of the Act as follows: "'plantation' means land used for growing one or more of the following; (i) coconut trees; (ii) arecanut trees; (iii) rubber plants; (iv) coffee plants; (v) tea plants; (vi) cardamom plants ; (vii) pepper vines;" Section 3 (1) which is the charging Section in the Act reads: "Subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, for every financial year commending on and from the first day of April, 1960, there shall be charged in respect of the lands comprised in plantations held by a person on the corresponding valuation date an additional tax (hereinafter referred to as 'plantation tax') at the rates specified in Schedule I; and the person holding such plantations shall be liable to pay the plantation tax." The words "to hold" are defined in S.2 (8) of the Act as meaning "to be in possession of the plantation as owner or as tenant or as mortgagee in possession". The charging Section in Act 13 of 1961 is S.5 and the material parts of it are as follows: "(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act there shall be charged and levied a tax called 'basic tax' on all lands of whatever description and held under whatever tenure, xxxxxxx (2) The basic tax charged on any land shall be paid by the landholder of that land." 3. Though both plantation tax and basic tax are "taxes on lands" within the domain of legislative entry 49 in List II of the Constitution, there is no doubt in our minds, that the two are different imposts. The base of the plantation tax is possession of the land while that of the basic tax is ownership of the land. Though both plantation tax and basic tax are "taxes on lands" within the domain of legislative entry 49 in List II of the Constitution, there is no doubt in our minds, that the two are different imposts. The base of the plantation tax is possession of the land while that of the basic tax is ownership of the land. The plantation tax is payable by the holder of the land as defined in the Act, being the person in possession and the basic tax is payable by the landholder as defined in the other Act, who need not necessarily be a person in possession. As held in Babu v. State of Kerala 1965 KLT. 944 the plantation tax is not based on the extent of the land but on "a specified type of user for specified types of crop". 4. Great stress was laid by learned counsel on the word 'additional' not only in the short title of the Act but also in the charging Section, and also on the provision in S.3 (5) of the Act. S.3 (5) reads: "The tax charged under this section shall be in addition to the basic tax payable in respect of those lands under the Land Tax Act, 1955." By S.2(1) of Act 13 of 1961 "lands belonging to the Government" are exempt from the incidence of basic tax and the plantation in respect of which the appellant has been assessed under the Act, island belonging to Government and therefore exempt from basic tax. From the use of the word 'additional' and from S.3 (5) of the Act, it by no means follows, that there is under the Act no levy of plantation tax wherever there is no levy of basic tax. For this inference to be made, we must have more compelling data. The plantation tax is additional wherever there is basic tax; they are cumulative where both subsist. Nothing would have been easier for the legislature than to provide expressly for the result contended for. There is no exemption in the application of the Act, as in S.3 of Act 13 of 1961. The scheme of the Act is, that it applies to all plantations as defined in the State and the charge is imposed by S.3 (1) of the Act on every plantation. There is no exemption in the application of the Act, as in S.3 of Act 13 of 1961. The scheme of the Act is, that it applies to all plantations as defined in the State and the charge is imposed by S.3 (1) of the Act on every plantation. In this view, the intendment of S.3 (5) of the Act is only to clarify beyond doubt, that the levy of the basic tax in respect of a plantation is no answer to a claim for plantation tax in respect of it. S.3 (5) has to be so read, as if the words 'if any', were inserted after the words 'basic tax payable'. We therefore agree with the learned single judge in holding that the appellant's plantation is subject to levy under the Act, though it is land exempt from the payment of basic tax. 5. In coming to this conclusion, we have assumed, as contended by learned counsel for the appellant, that Government cannot be bound by a fiscal enactment to pay the tax unto themselves and that if the plantation in question bad not been leased to the appellant, but had remained in the possession of Government, plantation tax would not have to be paid. This principle, however, has no repercussion, on the question whether the appellant, as the tenant in possession of the plantation is not liable to pay plantation tax. We hold that he is liable. In this view, the writ appeal has to fail and has to be dismissed; we do so without any order as to costs. Dismissed.