V.K. Elayalwar vs Assistant Commissioner, Urban Land Tax, Salem-1

Singaravelu, J.—The 1st accused in C.C. No. 424 of 1984 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate No. 1, Salem has filed the petition under S 482 of the Crl. P.C., for quashing the said criminal case against him.

A complaint was filed by the Assistant Commissioner, Urban Land Tax, Salem-1 against the Petitioner herein and one Mahalakshmi. The said Mahalakshmi filed a petition for quashing the prosecution against her and the same was quashed by this Court on 7th November, 1984 in Crl M.P. No. 6499 of 1984. Now, the 1st accused has come forward with this application stating that the ceiling limit for a family consisting of two or more persons is now enlarged to 3000 sq. metres in Salem Agglomeration. Therefore, the prosecution is illegal. The reasoning given in Crl. M.P. No. 6499 of 1984 applies to this case also especially when the Petitioner is one of the accused in the same case. In addition to that, I wish to add the following. The ceiling is fixed with reference to the total extent of land held by a person. The term ''Person'' is no doubt defined to include an association or body of persons. But. in this case, the land is held only by each of the individuals and not by a body or association of persons. The mere fact that they had jointly applied for exemption of the respective lands held by them for the construction of a cinema theatre would not mean that the individual holdings get converted into a joint holding or the land becomes the property of a body of persons. Even the statement u/s 6(1) of the Act has been filed only individually and not as a body. This is also admitted in the complaint. The Act of 1978 permits each individual''s family to hold 3000 sq. metres of land. The holding of each of the two individuals, therefore, comes beyond the scope of the Act. As such, no exemption from the Government is necessary. Each of them can dispose of his or her land without in any way infringing any of the provisions of the Act. After the coming into force of the Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1978, the possession of what was an excess land has become lawful as the ceiling limit has been raised to 3000 sq metres. Therefore, no offence is disclosed against the Petitioner.

In the result, the petition allowed and the prosecution in C.C. No. 424 of 1984, on the file of the J.F.C.M. No 1. Salem is quashed.