Judgment

Dipak Misra, J.

The respondent invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam under Article 226 of the Constitution assailing the demand of luxury tax imposed on a building that consists of 13 residential apartments. The Tahasildar who is the competent statutory authority under the Kerala Building Tax Act, 1975 (for brevity “the Act”) imposed luxury tax on the building on the base of Section 5A of the Act vide order dated 1.10.2003 in Ref B4-6435/03 whereby he had measured the plinth area of all the residential apartments and computed the tax treating the same as a singular building.

2. The learned Single Judge opined that the levy of luxury tax of the entire building on the owner was not permissible under the Act, for the scheme is to levy luxury tax for each residential apartment, plinth area of which is in excess of the limit provided under Section 5A of the Act. It has been further ruled by the learned Single Judge that if the plinth area of each residential apartment was below 278.7 sq. mts., there was no scope of levying luxury tax. And if the concerned Tahsildar had found that the plinth area of the residential apartments in toto was above 278.7 sq.