The main legal point established in the judgment is the authority of the Collector to assess the duty independently of the information furnished by the return, and the clear liability of the owner for the payment of duty.

Curgenven, J.

1. The plaintiff, now appellant, sued to recover a sum of Rs. 6,300 from the Government in the following circumstances. In 1913 he started the Salem knitting factory and remained its proprietor until March, 1923, when he sold it to the Salem Industrials. The factory produced cotton banians and it is not disputed that its products were liable to duty under the Cotton Duties Act, II of 1896. Although the duty was payable monthly, no steps were taken to collect it until February, 1923, when the Revenue Divisional Officer called upon the plaintiff to submit a return showing the quantity and value of goods produced in the factory up to 31st December, 1922, so that the duty might be assessed and levied. The plaintiff did not answer this reference, and a further demand was made on 5th April, 1923. This also met with no response and on 11th July the Revenue Divisional Officer passed orders assessing the goods produced at the factory from its establishment up to the end of 1922 at Rs. 6,300. The plaintiff who had, as already stated, ceased to be the proprietor, paid this sum in installments under protest and filed this suit to recover it as an illegal levy. He bases his claim upon three separate grounds : firstly, that no duty can be assessed or collected in the absence of a return made by the proprietor; secondly, that the Act does not provide for the collection of arrears; thirdly, that the liability, if any, has devolved upon the company which purchased the mill.

2. To understand the first contention it is necessary to look at some of the provisions of the Cotton Duties Act. Section 6 directs that there shall be levied and collected at every mill in British India upon all cotton goods produced in such mill a duty at the rate of 3| per centum of the value of such goods. Under Section 8 the owner has to prepare and deliver to the Collector each month a return of the cotton goods produced at his mill during the preceding month stating quantity and value. This return has to be delivered within three working days and at most within seven days of the period to which it relates. Sub-section (1) of Section 9 runs as follows:

The Collector shall assess the duties payable in respect of the period to which the return relates, and unless the amount thereof is immediately tendered shall cause a notice in such form as may be prescribed by any rules under this Act, to be served on the owner requiring him to make payment of the amount assessed within ten days of the date of service of notice.

3. Section 11 provides that if the duty so assessed is not paid within the time fixed a sum not exceeding double the amount may be levied, recovery being in the manner provided in Section 30 of the Income Tax Act (II of 1886). Upon these provisions the learned advocate for the appellant bases the argument that no duty whatever is leviable unless the mill-owner submits the return required by Section 8. His contention is in brief that the Act provides a certain definite procedure for the realisation of the duty and that if any essential part of that procedure is wanting the remainder must remain inoperative. In other words, if no return is made there can be no assessment, because the assessment is made upon the data supplied by the return, and without assessment there can of course be no collection. He draws our attention to other Acts dealing with the collection of taxes or duties which make provision for an alternative procedure in the case of a default occurring. Section 22 of the Income Tax Act, for instance, requires a return to be made of the total income during the previous year and, if a failure to make this return occurs, under Section 23 (4) the Income Tax Officer shall make the assessment to the best of his judgment. Similarly, under Section 80 of the Madras Local Boards Act (XIV of 1920), certain landholders have to furnish the Collector with lists of the lands held by them, together with certain other particulars to afford a basis