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2025 Supreme(Online)(UK) 3142
HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
SHAKEEL KHAN – Appellant
Versus
STATE OF UTTARAKHAND – Respondent
WPMS 3583 / 2023
SL. N o.
D a t e
Office N ot e s, r e por t s, or de r s or pr oce e dings or dir e ct ions a nd Re gist r a r ’s or de r w it h Signa t ur e s
COURT’S OR JUD GE’S ORD ERS
1 6 ( 5 4 WPMS No. 3583 of 2023 Wit h WPMS No. 3569 of 2023 WPMS No. 3570 of 2023 WPMS No. 3575 of 2023 WPMS No. 3578 of 2023 WPMS No. 3581 of 2023 WPMS No. 3600 of 2023 H on’ble M a noj Kum a r Tiw a r i, J Mr. Dushyant Manali, lear ned counsel . for t he pet it ioners. Mr. Suyash Pant , lear ned St anding 2. Counsel for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand. 3. Mr. B.D. Pande, learned counsel for t he respondent - Nagar Palika Parishad Ram nagar . Pet it ioner s wer e let out shops by Nagar Palika Parishad Ram nagar. Since pet it ioners did not pay rent in r espect of shops for cert ain period, t herefor e, Nagar Palika Parishad Ram nagar issued recover y cert ificat es, pursuant t o which Tehsildar Ram nagar issued cit at ions for recovery of am ount of unpaid rent . Thus, feeling aggrieved pet it ioners have filed t hese w rit pet it ions challenging t he r ecovery cit at ions. . Since com m on quest ions of fact and law are involved in t hese pet it ions, t her efore, t hese pet it ions are clubbed t oget her and decided by t his com m on j udgm ent . However, for t he sake of br evit y and convenience, fact s of WPMS No. 3583 of 2023 alone are being consider ed and discussed. . The r elief sought by pet it ioner in WPMS No. 3583 of 2023 is as below: - i) I ssue a writ of cert iorari t o quash t he im pugned recovery cit at ion dat ed 18.10.2023 issued by respondent no. 4 annexed at Annexure No. 1 t o t he writ pet it ion.
9 8 ( 7. Lear ned counsel for t he pet it ioner subm it s t hat unpaid rent by pet it ioner in respect of a shop, belonging t o Nagar Palika Parishad Ram nagar, cannot be r ecovered as arrear s of land r evenue. . Lear ned counsel for Nagar Palika Parishad Ram nagar, how ever, has drawn at t ent ion of t his Court t o t he provision cont ained in Sect ion 173A of Ut t arakhand Municipalit ies Act , 1916. Sect ion 173A of Ut t arakhand Municipalit ies Act perm it s recovery of Municipalit y Taxes as ar rear s of land r evenue, w hich r eads as under : - “ 1 7 3 A. Re cove r y of t a x es a s a r r e ar s of la n d r e ve nu e - ( 1 ) Where any sum is due on account of a t ax, ot her t han any t ax payable upon im m ediat e dem and, from a person t o a Municipalit y, t he Municipalit y m ay w it hout prej udice t o any ot her m ode of recovery apply t o t he Collect or t o r ecover such sum t oget her wit h cost s of t he proceedings as if it were an arrear of a land revenue. The Collect or on being sat isfied t hat t he 2 ) sum is due shall pr oceed t o recover it is an arrear of land revenue.” . Lear ned counsel for t he Nagar Palika Parishad referr ed t o a j udgm ent r endered by learned Single Judge of t his Court in WPMS v s No. 1851 of 2023 ( Bhupender Rawat St at e of Ut t arakhand & ot hers) , w here aft er considering provisions cont ained in Sect ion 292 of Ut t arakhand Municipalit ies Act , 2016, it was held t hat r ent payable t o Municipalit y can also be r ecovered as arr ear s of land revenue. The view t aken by lear ned Single Judge in WPMS No. 1851 of 2023 was upheld by Division Bench in SPA No. 295 of 2023, vide j udgm ent dat ed 11.08.2023. Para 8 of t he j udgm ent r endered by Division Bench is ext ract ed below: - “ 8. The learned Single Judge has considered t his subm ission, and in our view, r ight ly
