( 1 ) THE appellant is the owner of several immovable properties in Calcutta which have been let out to various tenants. Some of these tenants use the portions of the premises in which they are occupiers for commercial or non-residential purposes.

( 2 ) ON, June 22, 1976, the Governor of West Bengal promulgated The Calcutta Municipal (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 1976 (West Bengal Ordinance No. XV of 1976 ). The Ordinance provided, inter alia, that a surcharge at such rate not exceeding fifty per cent of the consolidated rate as may be determined by the State Government by notification published in the Official Gazette, may be imposed upon any land or building which is used wholly or in part for commercial or non-residential purposes. Thereafter the West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed the Calcutta Municipal (Third Amendment) Act, 1976 and the provisions of the Ordinance were embodied in it. The Governor's assent to the Act was first published in the Calcutta Gazette, Extraordinary of November 16, 1976. Under S. 24 of this Amendment Act, the Ordinance has been repealed and anything done or any action taken under the principal Act (that is, The C