The term "rent" in Rule 7(1) of the Taxation Rules under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, includes municipal taxes paid by tenants, as they are part of the consideration for the lease.

1. These two revisional applications raise a common question and the question raised is about the meaning to be given to the expression rent as occurring in Rule 7(1) of the Taxation Rules in Chapter VIII of the schedule to the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949.

2. The applicants are owners of certain tenements which were let out to different tenants. These tenements are situate within the limits of the Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad and the rateable value of these tenements for the year 1952-53 had to be fixed. It appears that there was a covenant in a lease executed between the applicants and their tenants whereby the tenants were to pay the rent as well as the Municipal taxes to their landlords. The Municipal Corporation calculated the rateable value, treating the rent and taxes as rent recovered by the landlords.

3. The applicants, feeling aggrieved by the aforesaid method of calculation, contended that they were entitled to deduct the amount of taxes as the applicants were merely the agents of the Corporation when they collected the taxes from their tenants. They took the contention that the rateable value should, therefore, be fixed on the basis of rent alone. The Small Cause Court, Ahmedabad before which this proceeding was taken, held that the taxes paid by the tenants should be included in the amount of the rent in determining the rateable value of the tenements aN appeal was preferred from the order of the Court of Small Causes in the Court of the District Judge, Ahmedabad and the learned Assistant Judge, Ahmedabad confirmed the view taken by the Court of Small Causes and dismissed the petitioners appeal. It is from that order that the present application in revision has been brought.

4. Upor this application, it is contended on behalf of the applicants that the learned Assistant Judge was wrong in taking the view that the taxes should be taken into consideration along with the amount of the rent in determining the rateable value of these tenements. Mr. C. K. Shah has drawn our attention to certain provisions of the enactments. To take the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, first, the material provision which requires construction is Rule 7(1) of the taxation rules. The rule in question runs as follows:

"In order to fix the rateable value of any building or land assessable to a property-tax there shall be deducted from the amount of the annual rent for which such land or building might reasonably be expscted to let from year to year a sum equal to ten per cent of the said annual rent, and the said deduction shall be in lieu of all allowance for repairs or on any other account whatever".

It should be noticed that, according to Rule 7(1), there is a flat rate of deduction which is a reduction of 10 per cent of the annual rent and it is significant that the rule goes on to provide that the deduction shall be in lieu of all allowances for repairs or on any other account whatever. The expression "in lieu of all allowances for, repairs or on any other account whatever" is significant. This shows that once a ten per cent deduction is made then there is no other allowance permissible according to Rule 7(1). Now, the expression rent is not defined in the Act, But it will be convenient to mention two definitions as given in Section 2(53) and 8 2(54). In Section 2(53), the term rack rent has been defined and it means the amount of the annual rent for which the premises with reference to which the term is used might reasonably be expected to let from year to year as ascertained for the purpose of fixing the rateable value of such premises. Then Section 2(54) defines rateable value and it means the value of any building or land fixed in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and the rules for the purpose of assessment to property taxes. Now, We are here concerned with the rent and not the rack rent and, therefore, we will have to go, for the purpose of definition, to Section 105 of the