JUDGMENT

1. This is a Letters Patent appeal by one B. Sheo Narain against & decree of a learned Single Judge of this Court confirming the decrees of the two lower Courts dismissing the suit which the appellant has brought against the. Town Area Panchayat of Chhibramau. The suit as brought by the appellant asked for a declaration that the assessment of town tax on the plaintiff is illegal and ultra vires being beyond the scope of the powers conferred on a panchayat by law, that the defendant be restrained by a perpetual injunction from realising the said tax of Rs. 36 from the plaintiff. Now the learned Single Judge of this Court and the Courts below have held that this is a suit which is not within the jurisdiction of the civil Courts. The suit was brought in the Court of a Munsif. Section 9, Civil P.C., provides as follows:

The Court shall (subject to the provisions, herein contained) have jurisdiction to try all suits of a civil nature excepting suits of which their cognizance is either expressly or impliedly barred.

2. This shows that there are two points for consideration: firstly whether the suit is of a civil nature, and secondly whether there is any provision of the Code which