Fixation of fair rent by the Municipality of the premises.

S. Swamikkannu, J.

1. The substantial question of law that had been framed at the time of admission of this appeal was whether the Courts below have properly construed the provisions of Section 82 of the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act (V of 1920). Section 82 of the said Act reads as follows:

82(1) Every building shall be assessed together with its site and other adjacent premises occupied as an appurtenance thereto unless the owner of the building is a different person from the owner of such site or premises.

(2) The annual value of lands and buildings shall be deemed to be the gross annual rent at which they may reasonably be expect ed to let from month to month or from year to year less a deduction in the case of buildings, of ten per cent, of that portion of such annual rent which is attributable to the buildings alone, apart from their sites and adjacent lands occupied as an appurtenance thereto; and the said deduction shall be in lieu of all allowance for repairs or on any other account whatever:

Provided that-

(a) in the case of;

(i) any Government or railway building; or

(ii) any building of a class not ordinarily let the gross annual rent of which cannot, in the opinion of the (executive authority), be estimated;

the annual value of the premises shall be deemed to be six per cent, of the total of the estimated value of the land and the estimated present cost of erecting the building after deducting for depreciation a reasonable amount which shall in no case be less than ten per cent, of such costs; and

(c) Machinery (and furniture) shall be excluded from valuations under this section.

(3) The (State) Government shall have power to make rules regarding the manner in which, the person or persons by whom and the intervals at which, the value of the land, the present cost of erecting the building and the amount to be deducted for depreciation, shall be estimated or revised, in any case or class of cases to which Clause (a) of the proviso to Sub-section (2) applies, and they may, by such rules, restrict or modify the application of the provisions contained in Schedule IV to such case or class of cases.

A reading of the above provision clearly shows that the State Government shall have power to make rules regarding the manner in which the value of the land, the present cost of erecting the building and the amount to be deducted for depreciation, shall be estimated or revised in any case or class of cases, to which Clause (a) of the proviso to Sub-section (2) applies. Schedule IV to this Act deals with the taxation and finance rules; Part I deals with the taxation rules dealing with the definition of taxes, etc., whereas Part II of Schedule IV deals with 'finance rules'. As many as thirty-six rules are in existence under the 'taxation rules' in Part I of Schedule IV of the Act. Rule (6) in Part I of Schedule IV to the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act (V of 1920) under the heading 'assessment of the property tax' states that the value of any land or building for purposes of the property tax shall be determined by the executive authority, provided that the value of any land or building the tax for which is payable by the executive authority shall be determined by the Revenue Divisional Officer or if the Revenue Divisional Officer is also the executive authority by the council. So, it is Rule 6, that has been framed in Part I of Schedule IV to this Act, that is applicable with respect to the determination of the value of the land. It is not any other provision in any other enactment that is governing the assessment of the valuation of the building in question but it is the provisions of Act V of 1920 that governs. It is only by analogy or what is called the principles governing the manner in which an estimate has to be made the principles imbedded in that enactment have been thought to have some kind of a guiding principle. But, nowhere it is laid down in any of the decisions, including the decision in Guntur Municipa