The imposition of a tax is a serious matter and requires strict compliance with the prescribed procedure.

( 1 ) THIS is a second appeal against the Municipal Board of Azamgarh.

( 2 ) THE plaintiffs came to Court on the allegation that the imposition of enhanced octroi duty on heads of cattle by the Municipal Board was illegal and that the same had been wrongly collected from them. The plaintiffs prayed for an injunction restraining the Board from realising the enhanced octroi duty and asked for a decree for refund of the amount wrongly collected from them.

( 3 ) THE plaintiffs case was that the enhancement of the octroi duty amounted to imposition of a tax by the Board, but that the enhancement had not been effected in accordance with the provisions of the U. P. Municipalities Act of 1916 (hereinafter to be referred to as the Act) and that, therefore, they were not liable to pay the octroi duty at the enhanced rate. Principally, the contention of the plaintiffs was that there had been no proper publication of the proposal to enhance the octroi duty in accordance with the provisions of Section 131 of the Act read with section 94 thereof. It was also the plaintiffs case that there was a failure on the part of the Board to pass a special resolution directing imposition of the tax under Section 134 (2) of the Act and that, therefore, the notification relating to imposition of the tax made Under the provisions of Section 135 of the Act in the official Gazette was illegal. For these reasons, it was the plaintiffs case that there was no liability on the plaintiffs to be assessed for the payment of the enhanced octroi duty in respect of their cattle.

( 4 ) ON behalf of the Board, a defence was entered and it was pleaded that the suit was not cognizable by the civil Court because it was barred under the provisions of Section 164 of the act. It was also pleaded that there had been compliance with the provisions of the Act so far as they related to the enhancement of the octroi duty. It was further pleaded that the notification issued under Section 135 (3) of the Act imposing the tax was conclusive proof of the fact that the tax had been imposed in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Therefore, the case of the defendant Board was that there was no ground upon which the plaintiffs could obtain the injunction prayed for and the refund sought.

( 5 ) THE learned Munsif, who tried the suit, came to the conclusion that it was within the power of the Board to enhance the octroi duty, that the prescribed formalities had been carried out and that the suit was not maintainable in the civil Court. He held that Section 164 of the Act was attracted and it barred the plaintiffs suit. In this view of the matter, the learned Munsif dismissed the plaintiffs suit.

( 6 ) THERE was an appeal by the plaintiffs. The learned Civil Judge was of the view that the failure to publish the proposal for enhancement of octroi duty in a local newspaper had been explained and that although the proposal was not published in a local newspaper, yet the same had been brought to the notice of the public by fixing notices at conspicuous places. The learned Civil judge, therefore, was of the view that there was no failure to comply with the provisions of section 131 (3) read with Section 94 of the Act. The learned Judge further held that though there had been an omission to pass a special resolution under Section 134 after the approval by the commissioner, that did not make the issue of notification imposing the tax under Section 135 (2)illegal. In view of Clause (3) of the said section, the learned Judge was of opinion that the publication of the notification imposing the tax was conclusive proof that the tax had been imposed in accordance with the provisions of the Act. He was also of the view that since the imposition of the octroi duty was not a new tax, but only enhancement of an existing tax, the failure to publish the special resolution did not, in fact, matter. The learned Judge of the Court below also was of the view that the Board had the authority to al