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Judgment
Veeraswami, C.J.—Two points have been raised. One is that out of the total extent of urban land assessed under the Urban Land Tax Act,
77 grounds are in the occupation of slum dwellers, that a notification has been made under the City Tenants Protection Act as well as the Slum
Dwellers Clearance Act, and that, therefore, these facts will have taken into consideration in assessing the market value. In fact, the contention
goes so far as to suggest that the market value should be determined of these 77 grounds only in accordance with the provisions of the City
Tenants Protection Act. But, it is obvious that in a taxing statute the main provisions to be looked into in order to determine the ambit of the burden
the taxpayer should bear are the charging Section and the provisions providing for allowance In the Urban Land Tax Act, no allowance has been
provided for on that ground. As a sub-division of this contention, it is argued that since this extent of 77 grounds is in the occupation of slum
dwellers, this should have a bearing upon the market value. Here again, we are unable to accept this contention, because no allowance is given by
the Act on that ground. The two tests are (1) whether the land is within the City limits and (2) whether it is capable of being built upon. If the
answer is yes and if there is no provision giving any allowance in the Act, the charge follows.
It is also contended that such land has no market or, as Counsel puts it, it baa a closed market. That will be no criterion at all for failing to
determine the market value. ''Market Value'' is a well known expression which occurs not only in the Urban Land Tax Act but also in other tax
statutes like the Wealth Tax Act. It also occurs in the Land Acquisition Act. The market value is, therefore, a phraseology used in legal parlance as
a value which the land will bear and, if there is no data, then the authority vested with the power to determine the market value will have to exercise
the best judgment in the light of the facts that may be available. The writ petition is dismissed.