ORDER:- The petitioner owns lands in Singampattl village, Bhavani taluk, Coimbatore District, and the lands are comprised in patta Nos. 18, 30, 413 and 416. The land revenue payable for the lands comprised in the said patta numbers is Rs. 1.94, 2.93, 22.17 and 2.10 respectively and the water cess payable on them under the Madras Irrigation Cess Act, 1865 is Rs. 19.90, Rs. 32.10, 256.25 and Rs. 22.95 respectively.

2. By Government Order Ms. No. 1475, Rural Development and Local Administration dated 1-8-1970, the rate of levy of local cess surcharge under Section 116 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1958, was made subject to a maximum of Rs. 1.50 on every rupee of land revenue. On the basis of the said G. O., the respondent had claimed a sum of Rs. 702.77 from the petitioner under the provisions of Sections 115 and 116 of the said Act. The petitioner questions the validity of the said demand in the writ petition on the ground that the water cess collected under the Madras Irrigation Cess Act, 1865 will not come within the term of 'land revenue' used in Sections 115 and 116 of the Tamil Nadu Act 35 of 1958, that the explanation to Section 115 (1) which seeks to include water cess also

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