This is a petition filed by the petitioner under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution against an order passed by the authorities under the Madhya Pradesh Nagariya Sthawar Sampatti Kar Adhiniyam, 1964 (hereinafter called the Act).

According to the petitioner, he is owner of three houses a residential house in Ushaganj, Indore; business premises at Maharani Road, Indore; and a godown for business at Hathipala, Indore. It is alleged that the annual letting value of the house in Ushaganj, Indore, is about the limit as provided for in section 6 (h) of the Act, whereas the other two houses fall below the limit, and that at all the three houses are in personal occupation of the petitioner landlord, he was entitled to exemption under clause (h) of section 6 so far as the two houses at Maharani Road and Hathipala are concerned. But, according to the petitioner, the authorities under the Act have not granted exemption by totaling up the letting value of all the three houses and then sealing the exemption under clause (h) of section 6. It was also contended that even for the petitioner's house in Ushaganj, he was entitled to exemption upto the limit provided for in clause (h) of section 6 and was liable to pay tax only on the balance of the annual letting value. It was further contended that the petitioner's house in Ushaganj was after reconstruction for the first time assessed by the order dated the 17th December 1964 of the Officer of the Indore Municipal Corporation and, therefore, a tax on this basis could only be levied from the financial year commencing from 1st April 1965 and not before.

It was contended on behalf of the respondents that for the purposes of exemption buildings and lands have been mentioned in clause (h) of section 6 and, therefore, the total of the annual letting value of all the houses in possession of the landlord shall have to be made in order to find out as to whether the petitioner will be entitled to exemption or not. As regards the deduction from the annual letting value of the exemption amount under clause (h) of section 6, it was contended that under the Act the tax is on the property and no scheme for exemption upto a particular limit has been provided. It was also contended that although the assessment of the letting value of the house in Ushaganj is finally made by the Indore Municipal Corporation authorities by their order dated the 17th December 1964, but this order itself indicates that this assessment of the annual letting value shall come into operation from 1st December 1963, and consequently there was no error if tax on the basis of this assessment was levied from 1st April 1964.

Section 6 (h) of the Act reads thus:

6. The tax shall not be leviable in respect of the following properties, namely:

X X X X

(h) buildings and lands or part thereof in actual occupation of the owners thereof when the annual letting value of such buildings and lands or part thereof does not exceed Eighteen hundred rupees.

Clause (h) provides for exemption for tax of those buildings which are in possession of the owner himself. This clause, before amendment, provided the exemption limit to be three thousand rupees, and it is this limit which would be applicable to the present case. There is nothing in this provision to indicate that for purposes of exemption all the houses in possession of the owner will have to be considered together. There is also no justification to add up the annual letting value of the three houses in possession of the owner petitioner, and then to find out whether they will fall within the exemption limit or not. Sub-clause (c) of section 6 provides for exemption from tax of buildings whose annual letting value does not exceed Rs. 500. Section 6 (c) is as under:

6. The tax shall not be leviable in respect of the following properties namely:

x x x x

(c) buildings and lands the annual letting value of which does not exceed five hundred rupees:

Provided that if any such building or land is in ownership