Wanchoo, C.J. —This is an application by Bhanwarlal under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India, and arises in the following circumstances :

1. The applicant is the proprietor of a Cinema in Pali. This Cinema used to be known as Chitra Talkies, and is now known as Rajendra Talkies. The Municipal Board at Pali started collecting a tax, known as entertainment tax, from the cinema goers from August 1950 at the rate of two annas per rupee on the value of the admission ticket. The procedure for collection seems to have been that the applicant used to collect from the cinema goers and pay to the Municipal Board. The applicant continued to do so up to June 1951. Thereafter, it appears that he was advised that the tax was illegal. He, therefore, addressed a letter to the Municipal Board, Pali, in July 1951. In it he said that the tax was illegal under Art. 265 of the Constitution of India. He therefore wanted the Municipal Board to refund the amount which had already been realised from him, and also said that he would not pay the tax any more, and added that in case any coercive methods were used against him, he would be constrained to go to the law courts. Correspondence seems to have passed between the applicant and the Municipal Board of Pali, and the latter told him that if he stopped paying the tax legal action would have to be taken against him, Eventually, on the 28th April, 1952, the Executive Officer of the Municipal Board, Pali, informed the applicant that if he did not pay the tax within seven days, the Municipal Board would be constrained to take action under sec. 89 of the Rajasthan Town Municipalities Act (No. XXIII) of 1951, That section provides for recovery of Municipal claims, and if the bill presented under that section by the Municipality is not paid within a certain time, certain coercive processes provided in subsequent sections of the Act can be taken. As soon as the applicant came to know that the Municipality was going to take coercive action against him, he came to this Court on the 10th May, 1952.

2. It is conceded by the opposite parties that there is no law in support of this tax which began to be realised from August, 1950. It appears that the Municipal Board of Pali requested the Government of Rajasthan in August, 1949, to sanctioning the imposition of certain taxes including this tax within the municipal limits of Pali. The Government conveyed this sanction in December, 1949, and thereafter the tax began to be levied. Whatever may have been the position before the Constitution came into force on the 26th January, 1950 it is not open to any public body to impose a tax without the authority of law. Art. 265 is quite clear on the point, and reads as follows —

"No tax shall be-levied or collected except by authority of law."

If therefore there was any tax in existence before the Constitution came into force, its continued collection depended upon the authority showing that it was levied by authority of some law, As we have already mentioned, it is conceded on behalf of the State of Rajasthan as well as the Municipal Board that the levy and collection of this tax since the 26th January, 1950, is not authorised by any law. We are told that steps are now being taken under sec. 60 and subsequent sections of the Rajasthan Town Municipalities Act (No. XXIII) of 1951 to levy certain taxes including this tax by the Municipal Board of Pali. If and when the procedure prescribed by sec. 60 and subsequent sections is carried out, the taxes so levied thereafter may be according to law, and may not be illegal under Art. 265 of the Constitution. But as matters stand today, it is not denied that this entertainment tax is being levied and collected by the Municipal Board of Pali without the authority of law.

3. We are therefore of opinion that it is an illegal imposition, and the Municipal Board must be prevented from levying and collecting this illegal exaction from the citizens of Pali.

4. Though learned counsel did not contest

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