SHATRUSHALYASINHJI DIGVIJAYSINHJI JADEJA v. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX
2009-02-09
D.A.MEHTA, S.R.BRAHMBHATT
body2009
DigiLaw.ai
D. A. MEHTA, J. ( 1 ) THIS petition has been preferred seeking following reliefs:- " (a) this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, direction or order under Article 226 of the Constitution quashing and setting aside the orders passed by the 1st and 2nd respondents dated 4-5-2005 and 7-6-2005 respectively and set aside the auction sale held by the 2nd respondent on 18-3-2005; (b) that during the pendency and final hearing of this petition, the 2nd respondent be restrained from issuing sale certificates to the 22 purchasers of the plots illegally sold at auction sale conducted by the 2nd respondent on 18-3-2005 and that the 2nd respondent be further restrained from putting to auction sale further plots as announced by him after the conclusion of the auction held on 18-3-2005; (c) that any other and further relief which is just and proper may kindly be granted by this Hon'ble Court. " ( 2 ) THE facts in the backdrop of which the controversy arises are that the petitioner, an individual, became liable to make payment to the respondent department, pursuant to various proceedings under the Income Tax Act 1961 (the Act ). Due to paucity of funds the petitioner entered into an agreement on 16/10/1980 with Commissioner of Income Tax, Respondent No. 1 herein, regarding sale of certain plots of land, out of various properties owned by the petitioner in and around the city of Jamnagar. Accordingly vide letter dated 30/9/2004 the petitioner offered Plot Nos. 10 to 12 and 16 to 61 falling within Walkeshwar Nagari, Phase VIII, as per layout plan annexed along with the said communication dated 30/9/2004. The said communication further stated that, 60 % of the realization from auction sale may be retained by the respondent department while 40 % balance of the realization of sale may be paid to the petitioner in terms of agreement dated 16/10/1980 entered into between the parties. ( 3 ) ACCORDINGLY, on 18/10/2004 "sale Proclamation" was issued by respondent no. 2 in terms of provisions of the Second Schedule to the Act, followed by public advertisement dated 9/3/2005. On 17/3/2005 auction sale was announced, but according to the petitioner, as the same was in relation to a different layout plan, different than the signed layout plan submitted by the petitioner, the petitioner opposed the auction, and accordingly the auction was deferred to 18/3/2005.
On 17/3/2005 auction sale was announced, but according to the petitioner, as the same was in relation to a different layout plan, different than the signed layout plan submitted by the petitioner, the petitioner opposed the auction, and accordingly the auction was deferred to 18/3/2005. The petitioner submitted written objections on 18/3/2005. However, on 18/3/2005 respondent no. 2 conducted auction sale of 22 plots out of 35 plots in all, and the balance number of plots were to be put to auction sale on 21/3/2005 as announced on 18/3/2005. ( 4 ) AT this stage, the petitioner approached the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division), Jamnagar, seeking relief against respondent no. 2, accompanied by an application for interim relief. Ad-interim injunction was granted on 19/3/2005 which came to be extended from time to time. The said order of ad-interim injunction was challenged by respondent no. 2 by way of writ petition before this High Court and notice was issued on 20/4/2006 making it returnable on 27/4/2006. In the meantime the Civil Court rejected application for interim injunction on 25/4/2006, but stayed operation of the said order up to 12/5/2006. Hence the petitioner preferred two separate petitions before this High Court, one challenging the order made by Civil Court, being Special Civil Application No. 10714 of 2006, and the second petition being the present petition. To complete the chain of events, it may be noted that, thereafter, sometime in 2008 Special Civil Application No. 10714 of 2006 was withdrawn by the petitioner. But, till that point of time, the order of status-quo made by the High Court on 12/5/2006 had continued. ( 5 ) IN so far as the present petition is concerned, though learned advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioner has made various submissions on the legality of the Auction Sale, in light of the view that the Court is inclined to adopt, it is not necessary to set out the said contentions in detail. This petition is taken up for final hearing and disposal today, considering the course the Court intends to adopt. Hence Rule. Learned counsel for respondent authorities is directed to waive service. ( 6 ) THE 'proclamation of Sale' of an immovable property falls within Part-III of the Second Schedule to the Act. The said part deals with "attachment AND SALE OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY".
Hence Rule. Learned counsel for respondent authorities is directed to waive service. ( 6 ) THE 'proclamation of Sale' of an immovable property falls within Part-III of the Second Schedule to the Act. The said part deals with "attachment AND SALE OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY". Rules 48 to 51 of the Second Schedule (the Rules), fall within the Division relatable to "attachment" while remaining Rules fall under the Division relating to "sale". ( 7 ) RULE 52 stipulates that after attachment of a property the Tax Recovery Officer (TRO) has a discretion to direct sale of any immovable property, or such portion thereof, out of the property so attached, to satisfy the Tax Recovery Certificate. Under Sub Rule (2) of Rule 52 of the Rules, the Tax Recovery Officer is under a mandate to cause a Proclamation of the intended sale to be made in the language of the district where the immovable property, which is ordered to be sold, is situate. Rule 53 of the Rules lays down as to what should be the contents of a 'proclamation' and reads as under : "contents of proclamation. 53. A proclamation of sale of immovable property shall be drawn up after notice to the defaulter, and shall state the time and place of sale, and shall specify, as fairly and accurately as possible,- (a) the property to be sold; (b) the revenue, if any, assessed upon the property or any part thereof; (c) the amount for the recovery of which the sale is ordered; [ (cc) the reserve price, if any, below which the property may not be sold; and] any other thing which the Tax Recovery Officer considers it material for a purchaser to know, in order to judge the nature and value of the property. " ( 8 ) THE opening portion of the aforesaid Rule 53 of the Rules requires that, Proclamation shall specify, with a marginal leeway to the authority to so specify, as fairly and accurately as possible. The five requirements which should be contained in a Proclamation are as specified by clauses (a) (b) (c) (cc) and (d) of the said Rule. To put it differently all five clauses should find place in the Proclamation, but the description thereof may vary and may not be absolutely to the "t", but could be possibly rounded of to the nearest figure available.
To put it differently all five clauses should find place in the Proclamation, but the description thereof may vary and may not be absolutely to the "t", but could be possibly rounded of to the nearest figure available. ( 9 ) RULE 54 of the Rules stipulates the Mode of Making Proclamation and under Sub Rule (2) thereof, the Tax Recovery Officer is required to publish "such Proclamation" also in the Official Gazette, or any local newspaper, or in both. Thus the requirements of the said provision envisage that once the Tax Recovery Officer so directs the Proclamation made under Sub Rule (2) of Rule 52 containing the particulars mentioned in Rule 53 shall be published ether in the Official Gazette, or in the local newspaper, or in both. But the said Rule does not permit any variation in the contents of the Proclamation when a Proclamation has already been made under Rule 52 (2) of the Rules. ( 10 ) IN the present case, the Proclamation which appears at 'exhibit-B' mentions 3 Recovery Certificates of different dates, seeking recovery of a sum of Rs. 11,12,02,942/ -. In so far as column relating to reserve price is concerned, it states that the property shall not be sold below the Jantri price fixed by local authority. Thereafter the Schedule of the property has been mentioned containing five columns, out of which the first column relating to number of lots has been filled up, the second column relating to Description of Property has also been filled up, while column nos 3, 4 and 5 have been left blank, with column no. 4 showing Details of any encumbrances to be 'nil'. ( 11 ) THE public notice which followed the Proclamation is in Gujarati, and in the said public notice, the amount of outstanding tax dues has not been mentioned, while the reserve price has been specified to be Rs. 5950/- per sq. meter; in relation to the description of the property and the other columns relating to revenue assessed upon the land, Municipal tax, and other encumbrances, the last three columns, except the description, specifically state that 'assessed revenue or the Municipal tax, or any other encumbrances on the property are "not known". ( 12 ) THUS, it is apparent that, there is a variation between the public notice published in vernacular and the Proclamation.
( 12 ) THUS, it is apparent that, there is a variation between the public notice published in vernacular and the Proclamation. Admittedly, during the course of hearing, it has come on record that Municipal tax amounting to Rupees Four lakhs and odd as stated in communication dated 18/2/2005 from the petitioner to TRO are due and outstanding. ( 13 ) IN the circumstances, it is apparent that, there is a failure to comply with the requirements of Rule 53 of the Rules of the Second Schedule, and there is a variation between the Proclamation made under Rules 52 and 53 read together and the public notice issued and published under Rule 54 (2) of the Rules. The contention on behalf of the respondent authority that such a variation would have no material bearing in so far as the petitioner is concerned, and it would only be the prospective bidder who would be affected, can not be accepted. It is also not possible to accept the submission that when both, the Proclamation and public notice are read together, there is substantial compliance with the requirements of the Rules of the Second Schedule. ( 14 ) IN the first instance, it is an admitted position between the parties that by virtue of agreement entered into in 1980, 60% of the realization from the auction sale is to be retained by the respondent authority in satisfaction of the Recovery Certificate, whilst balance 40% is to be paid over to the petitioner. Therefore, to say that the petitioner is not prejudiced due to the variation in the details mentioned in the Proclamation and public notice, can not be upheld. ( 15 ) UNDER Rule 54 (2) of the Rules the phrase used is "such Proclamation", namely 'proclamation' which has been made under Rule 52 (2) of the Rules containing the particulars specified in Rule 53 of the Rules of the Second Schedule. Therefore, once the statute envisages that the Official Gazette, and / or the public notice, shall be of the 'proclamation' already made under the preceding Rules, the same can not be wished away.
Therefore, once the statute envisages that the Official Gazette, and / or the public notice, shall be of the 'proclamation' already made under the preceding Rules, the same can not be wished away. The publication of the same Proclamation, as qualified by use of the preceding term "such", makes it mandatory that the version published in the Official Gazette, and/or in the local newspaper, can not differ in any manner whatsoever "except the language, if any" and has to contain the same particulars as specified in Rule 53, and the Proclamation as made in terms of Rule 52 (2) of the Rules. Hence, on this count, the public notice which followed the Proclamation cannot be sustained. ( 16 ) IN so far as the 'proclamation' is concerned, it is an accepted fact that, the said Proclamation does not specify the amount of outstanding revenue due and payable in so far as the property put to auction sale is concerned. The learned counsel sought to draw a fine distinction by stating that, said requirement of clause (b) of Rule 53 referred to Revenue Assessed upon the property and was not relatable to Municipal tax and, therefore, there was no requirement to mention the figure of Municipal Tax. This distinction is a distinction without any difference. If one reads the entire Rule 53, it becomes clear that, the purpose of specifying the contents in the Proclamation are for the purpose of judging the nature and value of the property in question. To put it differently, a prospective bidder must be made aware of outstanding liabilities vis-a-vis the property put to auction sale. Therefore, the contention that the term 'revenue' does not take within its sweep, in so far as Rule 53 is concerned, Municipal taxes cannot be upheld. There is one more reason. In fact in the public notice, as already noted hereinbefore, specific reference to outstanding Municipal taxes by way of a column is there, and then the column says "not known". Thus the entire exercise is misleading, not only from the point of view of the prospective bidder but also from point of view of any person who is directly or indirectly interested in disposal of the property, including the petitioner.
Thus the entire exercise is misleading, not only from the point of view of the prospective bidder but also from point of view of any person who is directly or indirectly interested in disposal of the property, including the petitioner. In the result, it is apparent that the 'proclamation' and the public notice following the Proclamation do not comply with the statutory requirements specified by the relevant Rules and there are material irregularities which would warrant a person to seek setting aside of the sale. However, from this, it does not flow that the properties under attachment cannot be put to sale once again. It will be open to the respondent authority to initiate fresh action in accordance with law, and in strict compliance with the requirements of the Rules of the Second Schedule, more particularly Part III thereof, which deals with the sale of the attached property. ( 17 ) HENCE, the orders made by the respondent authorities on 4/5/2005 and 7/6/2005 are quashed and set aside. The auction sale held on 18/3/2005 is also quashed and set aside, leaving it open to the respondent authorities to initiate fresh proceedings in accordance with law. ( 18 ) IN light of the view that the Court has adopted, it is not necessary to deal with various other contentions raised in the petition, and at the time of hearing, and it will be open to the petitioner to raise the same, in accordance with law, before the appropriate authority at the relevant point of time. ( 19 ) THE petition stands allowed accordingly. Rule made absolute to the aforesaid extent, with no order as to costs.