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DINESH KUMAR SINGH
Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
State of Kerala, Represented by its Chief Secretary – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd./the petitioner, a public limited company, has filed the present writ petition through its Managing Director, challenging the Ext.P3 order wherein the building tax has been imposed on 6159.97 sq m, area of factory premises of the petitioner situated in Ramanattukara Village, Kozhikode District.
2. The petitioner is one of the leading printing and publishing unit that publishes weekly, fortnightly, monthly and annual magazines, papers, yearbooks, etc., having wide circulation, besides printing a number of books on various topics of selected authors. The petitioner had constructed a building for housing its printing unit in Ramanattukara Village, Kozhikode District.
3. The petitioner has been granted a license under the Factories Act in respect of the said building. The 1st respondent, vide impugned order dated 06.02.2023 in Ext.P3, had divided the factory building into two parts, i.e., (i) 14503.03 sq m as factory and the balance of 6159.97 sq m as the area used for ‘other purposes’. While rejecting the application of the petitioner for exemption for payment of building tax under Section 3(1)(b) of the Kerala Building Tax Act 1975 (f
Point of Law : Section 3(1)(b) of Act buildings used principally for religious, charitable or educational purposes or as factories or workshops or cattle/pig/poultry farms or poly houses.
The absence of evidence for manufacturing activity in a building justifies the rejection of a claim for exemption from building tax under the Kerala Building Tax Act.
Statutory authorities must refer exemption claims to the Government if raised during assessments under the Kerala Building Tax Act, ensuring compliance with mandatory procedural obligations.
The court established that premises engaged in pumping oil qualify as a factory under the Factories Act, thus entitling them to exemption from building tax under the Kerala Building Tax Act.
A writ petitioner cannot re-agitate an exemption claim under the Building Tax Act that has already been adjudicated and confirmed by the Court in earlier proceedings, as the matter has attained final....
Charitable purpose contemplated in Section 3 of Act does not necessarily exclude carrying on activities for which charges are levied on those who can pay and what is relevant is whether building is p....
The main legal point established in the judgment is that activities integrally connected with the religious purpose of a building may entitle the building to exemption from payment of building tax un....
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