Section 4(1) of the Payment of Taxes (Transfer of Property) Act, 1949, does not authorize the ITO to issue notices in the case of leases.

DAS GUPTA, J.

1. THIS is an application on behalf of Hind Estates, Ltd., inter alia for a writ of mandamus or writ of like nature directing the respondents Nos. 1 and 2 and each of them to forbear from giving effect to the notices issued by them to respondents Nos. 4 and 5 on diverse dates including 16th May, 1950, or from taking any further steps in pursuance of the said notices or taking or continuing any proceedings under s. 4(1) of the Payment of Taxes (Transfer of Property) Act, 1949.

2. THE case of the petitioner before me is as follows : THE petitioner, Hind Estates, Ltd., is a private limited company incorporated in India under the Indian Companies Act, 1913. THE registered office of the company is situate at No. 220/1, Lower Circular Road, Calcutta. THE respondents No. 4 and 5 by a registered lease dt. the 13th Dec., 1948, granted in favour of the petitioner a lease for 99 years commencing from 1st Jan., 1949, of a number of properties situate in Calcutta at a rent of Rs. 2,400 per month. By another indenture of lease, dt. 4th Jan., 1949, the petitioner also obtained a lease from the respondents No. 4 and 6 for a period of 99 years commencing from 1st Jan., 1949, at a rent of Rs. 1,000 per month of certain properties situate at Cawnpore. By a third indenture of lease, dt. the 20th Dec., 1948, the petitioner obtained a lease of certain properties in Delhi from the respondent No. 4, Mohamad Amin, for a period of 99 years commencing from 1st Jan., 1949, at a rent of Rs. 100 per month.

After partition of India and on 7th Feb., 1948, an Ordinance being Ordinance No. III of 1948, was passed by the Government of India. Under the said Ordinance no Registering Officer should register any document which is required to be registered under cls. (a), (b), (c) and (e) of sub-s. (1) of s. 17 of the Registration Act, unless a certificate had been obtained from the Assistant CIT, to the effect that the person making such transfer is not liable to taxation under the Indian IT Act, the EPT Act or the Business Profits Tax Act, 1947, or that he has either paid or made satisfactory provisions for the payment of all existing and anticipated liabilities under any of the said Acts or that he has otherwise satisfied that the registration should be allowed. Sec. 4 of the said Ordinance provides that if any right, title and interest in any property whether movable or immovable, other than agricultural land has been transferred, assigned, limited or extinguished after 14th Aug., 1947, the ITO of the area where the property is situate may issue a notice to all or any of the parties to the transactions requiring them to produce a certificate prescribed by s. 3 of the said Ordinance and if no such certificate is produced, he may forward a statement to the Collector showing the existing and anticipated liabilities of each or any of the said parties and the Collector should then proceed to recover the total amount shown in the statement as if it were an arrear of land revenue and for that purpose may treat the said property as if it belonged to all or any of the persons named in the statement. Thereafter on the 6th Aug., 1948, another Ordinance was passed, being Ordinance No. XXI of 1948. The said Ordinance is practically in the same terms as the Ordinance No. III of 1948 with this variation, namely, that under s. 3 of Ordinance XXI of 1948 which is otherwise same as s. 4 of the Ordinance III of 1948, stocks, shares and securities are excluded from the operation thereof and in place of the words "the certificate prescribed by s. 3 used in s. 4 of the Ordinance III of 1948, the expression "a certificate by the Inspecting Assistant CIT of the said area in the terms mentioned in s. 2 of the said Ordinance" is used. The Ordinance XXI of 1948 expired on the 7th Feb., 1949, and on the 22nd April, 1949, an Act being Payment of Taxes (Transfer of Property) Act (Act XXII of 1949) came into force. The heading of the said Act is as follows :--

"An Act to m