For Petitioner : Mr. Ashish Shrivastava assisted by Ms. Ananya Pandey,
Advocate
For Respondent No. 1 & 3 : Mr. Narayan Prashad, PL
For Respondent No. 2 : Mr. Alok Bakshi, Advocate
Hon'ble Shri Justice Sachin Singh Rajput
Order On Board
17.04.2026
1. The petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking for the following relief(s);
"10.1 It is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased
to call for the entire records pertaining to case of the petitioner
firm from the possession of the respondents, for its kind perusal.
10.2 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an
appropriate writ quashing and setting aside the impugned Bill
dated 06/03/2021 raised by the respondent No.2 & 3 with regard to
payment of property tax under the provisions of CG Municipalities
Act, 1961, in respect of the building owned, run and used by the
petitioner society for Educational purposes, by declaring the same
to be illegal and inoperative in law.
10.3 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an
appropriate writ commanding the respondents forbearing them
from levying any property tax to the petitioner society building
which is used exclusively for educational purposes.
10.4 Any other relief/reliefs, which this Hon'ble Court may think fit
and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, with cost of
the petition, may also please be granted to the petitioner."
2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner society is a duly
registered educational society under the Chhattisgarh Societies Registration
Act, 1973. It is engaged in imparting education and its building is situated
within the municipal limits of the Municipal Council, Gariyaband, District
Gariyaband (C.G.). The petitioner society is regularly paying all applicable
taxes to the concerned authorities. It is further submitted that respondent Nos.
2 and 3 issued a bill dated 06.03.2021 which is impugned in the present writ
petition, levying property tax on the petitioner's building. The said building is
used exclusively for educational purposes. By the impugned bill, the petitioner
was directed to deposit the property tax within a period of 15 days, failing
which appropriate proceedings were to be initiated under the provisions of the
Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961 (for short, "the Act of 1961"). The
petitioner society has also submitted its reply to the said demand. It is
contended that the petitioner is a charitable institution registered under Section
12 A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and therefore, in view of the provisions
contained in Section 127 A of the Act of 1961, it is exempted from payment of
property tax. Learned counsel submits that this aspect has not been considered
by respondent No. 2 while issuing the impugned bill. Reliance is placed upon
the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Government of Kerala &
Another vs. Mother Superior Adoration Convent reported in (2021) 5 SCC
602, as well as the order passed by this Court in WPC No. 4849/2023 (Indu
Technical Education Society through President M.S. Umak vs. State of
Chhattisgarh & Others) dated 16.01.2024 and the judgment of the Madhya
Pradesh High Court in Vanshidhar Memorial Charitable Samiti, Gwalior
vs. Municipal Corporation reported in 2018 SCC OnLine MP 1133. Thus, it
is prayed that the impugned demand be set aside.
3. Learned counsel for respondent No. 2 submits that the petitioner did not raise
the aforesaid contention before the competent authority. He submits that since
the petitioner's building falls within the jurisdiction of the municipal authority,
the property tax bill has been rightly issued in accordance with the provisions
of the Act of 1961. Therefore, the writ petition is liable to be dismissed.
4. Learned counsel for respondent Nos. 1 and 3 submits that the dispute
essentially lies between the petitioner and respondent No. 2.
5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
6. From a perusal of the record, it appears that prior to issuance of the impugned
bill (Annexure P/1), the issue regarding exemption claimed by the petitioner
was not considered by respondent Nos. 2 and 3. A similar issue came up
before this Court in Indu Technical Education Society (supra) wherein this
Court, while disposing of the petition permitted the petitioner to submit a
representation along with necessary documents to be decided in accordance
with law.
7. In view of the above, this Court is not inclined at this stage to examine the
merits of the claim regarding exemption from property tax. Instead, the writ
petition is disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to submit a detailed
representation to respondent Nos. 2 and 3 along with all relevant documents in
support of its claim for exemption from property tax within a period of 45
days from today. Upon receipt of such representation, respondent No. 2 shall
consider and decide the same in accordance with law within a further period
of 60 days taking into account the grievances raised by the petitioner, the
applicable statutory provisions, and the law laid down by the Hon'ble
Supreme Court and the High Court. It is noted that while issuing notice on
15.06.2021, this Court had granted an interim stay on recovery pursuant to the
impugned notice which has continued from time to time. Accordingly, the said
interim protection shall remain in operation until a decision is taken on the
petitioner's representation. It is made clear that this Court has not expressed
any opinion on the merits of the case. In the event the decision of respondent
No. 2 is adverse to the petitioner, it shall be open to the petitioner to challenge
the same in accordance with law.
8. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the writ petition stands
disposed of.
Sd/-
(Sachin Singh Rajput)
Judge
H.Ansari
