JUDGMENT :

G.S. Kulkarni, J.

The judgment has been divided into the following sections to facilitate analysis:

1. Petitioner No.1 claims to be a federation of co-operative housing societies constituted for welfare of the residents of Kharghar Node which is an area in Navi Mumbai. It is averred that petitioner No.1 is looking after the welfare of its Member Cooperative Housing Societies (for short “the Societies”). Petitioner No.2 is described to be a resident of Kharghar, and as an office bearer of a co-operative housing society, namely, one ‘Stuti Residency Co-operative Housing Society Ltd.’ The petition is affirmed by one Commander Siddheshwar Hira Kalawat who has described himself as General Secretary of petitioner No.1.

2. Respondent No.1 is the Commissioner of the Panvel Municipal Corporation (for short ‘the PMC’). The PMC is constituted by the State Government by issuance of a notification under Section 3 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 (for short, ‘the MMC Act’) with effect from 1 October 2016, so as to include 29 villages and other areas, which now includes the Kharghar Node.

3. This petition concerns levy of municipal taxes in relation to only one area of the PMC namely the “Kharghar Node”. The infrastructure of the Kharghar Node was developed and maintained by the City Industrial Development Corporation (for short ‘CIDCO’) which was constituted as a “New Town Development Authority”, for the area constituting the twin city, namely, “Navi Mumbai”. Until the formation of the PMC, CIDCO was looking after the infrastructure requirements of the Kharghar Node. By virtue of the PMC being constituted with effect from 1 October 2016, Kharghar Node stood included within the municipal jurisdiction of the PMC, for all purposes of municipal administration. The municipal authority in regard to Kharghar Node alongwith the other areas now having stood with the PMC, is not in dispute.

4. The PMC’s municipal jurisdiction covers an area of about 110 kilometers, comprising of 29 villages alongwith the areas which were earlier vested with the CIDCO. It is stated that 2,68,718 properties are within the jurisdiction of the PMC for the purposes of PMC levying and collecting municipal taxes.

5. By virtue of the PMC being constituted as a municipal corporation under the provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 (for short ‘the MMC Act’), all powers and authority to levy property taxes with effect from 1 October 2016 stood vested with the PMC. It is not brought to our notice that any other authority than the PMC could levy “property taxes” within the meaning of the MMC Act, with effect from the period 1 October 2016. It also appears that some miscellaneous charges earlier collected by the CIDCO could never partake the character and colour of a property tax specifically leviable under the MMC Act.

6. On its constitution, PMC for the purposes of levy of property taxes, had commenced its work, which included large scale survey of all areas and the properties situated in such areas. As informed to us, the basic ground work was substantial, in preparing the assessment registers, making assessment and ultimately issuing property tax bills in relation to the various properties situated within its municipal jurisdiction, as there were large new areas which were never assessed to property taxes.

7. Thus entire exercise of PMC making the assessment, culminated into PMC issuing bills to all the properties including to the properties situated in the Kharghar Node, with which members of petitioner no. 1 are concerned, namely, the co-operative societies in the Kharghar N