(1) G overnment may, subjec t t o such rules as may be mad e in this behal f, by o rder reduce or rem it, whe ther prospectively or retrospectively the Ur ba n Immovab le Property Ta x payable in respect of any class of urban lands and build ings or by any class of persons and in partic ula r the tax payable in respect of u rban lands and buildings which are occup ied wholly or partly by the owners themselves.
(2) The Government may at any tim e cancel or modify any orde r issued und er sub-section (1) and upon such cancellation the Ur ban Imm ovable Pro perty Tax shall be payable in respect of the land and building concerned with effect from the y ear in which such cancellat ion is m ade .
Real isation 12. Where the u rba n land and bui lding belong to of tax in a firm or an association of persons, other tha n a solTt'rai'of company as defined in the Companies Act, 1956 and any firm°or *n r e s P e c t °f which tax is due under this Act is disconassociati&n. tinued or the association of persons is dissolved the Urb an Imm ovable Property Tax shall be levied upon and recovered jo int ly and severally, from every person who at the time of such discontinuance or dissolution was a pa rtn er of such firm or mem ber of such association ; and all the provision of this Act shall app ly according ly.
Appeal to 13. (1) Any owner objecting to an orde r passed the presc rib- under this Act may, within thi rty days from the date ed authority* o f t }i e finalisation of the Valua tion List under sub section (5) of sect ion 6, or service of any oth er orde r, appea l to the prescribed authority again st such order provided that this perio d may be extended by the prescribed au tho rity for good and sufficient reasons to be recorded in writ in g:
Act I of 1956.
Prov ided also th at no app eal shall be entertained by such autho rity unless it is satisfied th at the amoun t of t ax assessed or penalty imposed has been paid :
Provided furth er that such authority , if satisfied th at an owner is un able to pay th e tax assessed, may, for reasons to be reco rded in writing, enter tain an appeal without such tax having been paid .
6
(2) In disposing of an appeal under sub-section
(1) the appell ate autho rity ma y—
(a) confirm, reduce, enhance or annu l the o rder of valua tion or assessment, or (Z>) set aside the order of valuat ion or assess ment and direct a fresh valuat ion or assessment a fter such enquiry as may be orde red, or
(c) confirm, reduce or ann ul the ord er of penalty .
(3) Th e order of the app ella te autho rity shall be final except as prov ided in section 14 and section
15.
Revision by 14. (1) Th e Commissioner may call for a nd Gommis- examine the reco rd of any proceeding unde r this Act, noner. and if he considers th at any ord er passed therein by any person app oin ted under section 5 to assist him is erroneous in so far as i t is pre judicial to the interests of revenue, he may, after giving the owner an opportu nity ol bein g heard and afte r mak ing or caus ing to be ma de such enquiry as he deems neces sary, pass such orders ther eon as the circumstances of the case justify, incl udin g an order enhancing or modify ing the valuatio n or assessment, or cancel ling the valuat ion or assessment and direct ing a fresh valua tion or assessment as the case m ay be.
(2) In the case o f any order othe r than an order to which sub-sec tion (1) applies passed by any person app ointed under section 5 to assist him , the Commis sioner may , eith er of his own motion or on a peti tion by the owner for revis ion, call for the record of any proce eding under this Act in which any such order c, has been passed and may make such enquiry or cause y ' such enquiry to be made, and subject to the provi sions of this, may pass such orde r the reon, not being an ord er pre jud icia l to the owner, as he thinks fit. * (3 ) In the case of a pet itio n for revision under sub-section (2) by an owner, the pet itio n shal l be made with in nin ety days from the date on which the ord er in ques tion was com municated to him or the da te on which he otherwise came to know of it, whichever is e ar li er :
Provided th at the Commissioner before whom the pe titi on is filed may ad mit it afte r the expirat ion of the p eriod of nine ty days if he is satisfied th at for reasons beyond the cont rol of the pet itioner or for any o the r sufficient cause, it could not be filed wi thin time.
4 1
(4) Th e Commissioner shall no t revise under this section in the following any order cases :
(«) <■ (*) fa where an appeal aga inst the ord er lies under section 13 or 15 bu t has not been mad e an d the time within which such app eal may be made has not exp ired , or in the case of an appeal to the Board, the owner has not waived his right of app eal ;
or where the o rder is pending on appeal under section 13 ; or where the o rde r has been made the subjec t of a n appeal to the Board.
1 i J Ex planation .—An orde r by the Commiss ioner decl ining to inter fere shal l, for the purposes of this section, be deemed not to be an ord er prejudicial io an owner.
^he^Board 0 ) Any owner objec ting to an ord er passed of Rev enue . in appea l und er section 13 or passed in revision under sub-sec tion (1) of section 14 m ay appeal to the Board with in sixty days o f the da te on which such order is communica ted to him.
(2) The Board may admi t an appeal after the exp irati on of the sixty days referr ed to in sub-section
(1) i f it is satisfied that for reasons beyond the control of the app ellant or for any other sufficient cause it could not be filed with in time.
(3) An appeal to the Board shall be in the pres cribed form and shall be verified in the prescribed manner, and shall be accompanied by a fee of twentyfive rupees.
Not ice of (41 The Board may, after giving the owner an De ma nd opportuni ty of being heard , pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit, and shall communicate any such orders to the owner and to the Commissioner.
16. When a ny tax or penal ty or other trues is or are payable in consequence of any order passed under or in pursuance of this Act, the prescribed autho rity shall serve upon the person liable to pay such tax cr penalty or other dues a notice o f demand in the pres cribed form specifying the sum so payable and the date within which such sum shall be paid.
Mode of rc- 17 . (1) If the demand in respect of any dues under co very. this Act is not paid on o r before the date specified as aforesaid, the owner shall be deemed to be in defau lt;
8
Provided tha t the prescribed authority may, in respec t o f any particular owner and for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the date cf paym ent of the dues or allows such owner t o pay the same by instal men ts and: in th at case the owner shall not be deemed to be in default til l the da te as extended or the last date of payment by in stalm ent is over.
(2) Where an owner is in defaul t, the prescribed autho rity may in his discretion, direc t that , in addition to the amount due, a sum not exceeding that amount shall be recovered from the defaulte r by way of penal ty.
(3) Where an owner is in default, the prescribed autho rity may order tha t the amount due shall be recoverable as an arrear of land revenue and may proceed to realise the amount due as such.
Ta x of 18. Where an owner of urban land or building;
deceased cjjeS ; t ji e t a x s}i a ] ] be levied upon and recoverable from rep resenta - his; executor, adm inis trator or other legal representative, tiv e. as th e case may be.
Ta x whe n 19. When the urb an land or building of an owner, pa ya ble by p a s s e s o n t 0 a n y pe r s o n whether by sale, inher itance or otherwise, the liabil ity to pay tax payable in respec t of such land or building and remain ing unpaid at the time of such passing on, shall be jointly and severally on the transferor and the transferee, and the transferee shall within thirty days of such passing on, apply to the prescr ibed author ity to record his name.
Lia bil ity of 20. Where the urb an land or bui lding is in-charge gu ardian & o f a n y g u a r dian , trus tee or agent of a minor or othe r ’ ' inc apaci ated person on behalf of, and for the benefit of, such minor or other inc apaci ated person, the urb an Imm ovable Property Tax shall be levied upon and recoverab le from such guard ian , tru stee or agen t as the case may be, in the like m anner and the same exte nt as i t would be leviable upon an d recoverable from any such min or or other incapa cia ted person, if he were of full age and sound min d an d all the provisions of this Act shall apply acco rding ly.
Re fun d. 21. The pres cribed autho rity on being satisfied either on an app lica tion or on any o the r manner that the owner has paid in excess of the sum due from dm shall order, as soon as it may be, the refu nd ot the sum so pa id in excess :
Provided that the prescribed au tho rity may set off such sum against other dues from the same owner.
9 B ĉtifica- 22. (1) Th e autho rity which made a valuat ion non. Q r assessment or passed an ord er on appea l or revi sion in respect thereof may, at any time with in three year s from the date of such valu ation, assessment or ord er and of its own motion , rectify ai y mistake ap pa ren t from the record of the case, and shall, wi thin the like period, rectify any such mis take as has been bro ught to its notice by an owner :
Provided tha t no such recti fica tion shall be mad e having the effect of enhanc ing the assessment unless the autho rity concerned has given notice to the owner of its inte ntion so to do and has allowed him a reasonable opp ortunity of being, heard .
(2) Where any such rectif ication has the effect o f reducing the assessment, a refund shall be due to the owner,
(3) Where any such recti ficat ion has the effect of enhancing the assessment, a notice of demand shall be issued for t he sum payable.
False Sta- 23. Who ever makes a sta tem ent in verifica tion tem ent in o r dec lara tion in connection with any proceedings e c a r a t l o n ‘under this Act which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false, or does not believe to be true, shall, on conv iction before a Magis trat e, be pun ishable with simple impri son me nt which may extend to six month s o r with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees or wi th both.
Power to 24. The prescribed autho rity may, for the pur - call for in- poses o f this Act— forni 'tfon . 1 I-'- 3$ '' >«•'
(1) requ ire any firm or associat ion or Hindu undivided or jo in t family to furn ish it with a sta tem en t of the names and addresses of the members of the firm or associat ion or o f the names and addresses of the ma nager or mem bers of the family , as the case may be ;
(2) requir e any person whom it has reason to believe to be a trustee, gua rdian, manager or agent to furn ish it wi th a stat ement of the names of the persons with their addresses for or of whom he is a trus tee, guard ian , manag er or agen t ;
(3) requ ire any Municipal Board o r 1 own Com mit tee to furni sh t he names a nd addresses of owners of urba n land and building situated within its area and copies of valu ation list and assessment registers 10 Bar of 25 . No suit shall be bro ught in any Civil Court SCouri n t o s e t a s *de or modify the tax levied or orders passed under the provisions of this Act, and no prosecution suit or other proce edings shall lie aga ins t any officer of the Sta te Governm ent for any thin g in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereu nder.
Liab ili ty of 26. Th e prescribed au tho rity shall, for the pur - A,rt 19 08 V gu ardi an & poses of this Act, have the same powers as are vested 0 tru ste e, etc. ;n a Court under the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, when trying a suit in respect of the following ma tte rs—
(1) enforcing the attend ance of any person and exam ining him on oath or affirmation ;
(2) compelling the produc tion of documents ;
(3) issuing commissions for the exam inat ion or witnesses ;
and any such proceedings before the prescribed au tho rity shall be deem ed to be a “judicial proc eed ing” within the mea ning of sections 193 and 228 an d for j^ qV the purposes of section 196 o f the India n Penal Code,
1860.
Com pu tatio n 2 7- com puting the period of lim itat ion presof the cribed for a n appeal or revision, the day on which the .
perio d of orde r compla ined of was served and the time requis ite lim itat io n. fo r obtain ing a certified copy of such order , shall be excluded.
Inf orm ation to be furni she d reg ar di ng chan ge of ow ner ship.
28. If any^owner—
(a) sells or otherwise disposes o f his urban land or build ing or any part thereo f, or
(b) acquires or occupies any new land or buil ding in an urb an area, or
(c) constructs any new build ing or house in an urb an area , he shall w ithin the prescribed time inform the prescribed authority accordingly ; and if any such owner dies, his l egal representa tive shall in like manner inform the said authority.
Deleg ation o f 2 9 .1 he Government may delegate, by notification the powers in the Official Gazet te, any of the powers of the of Comm is- Commissioner, under this Act to any person appo inted sioner . under section 5 to assist the Commissioner.
11 Offences an d Penalties.