The petitioner preferred an appeal to the Assistant Commissioner of Agricultural Income tax, Kozhikode, against the order of the Income tax Officer questioning the said assessment on the ground, inter alia, that the assessment was made arbitrarily.
Winter December January to to February February.
Tapioca November to Dec. to Feb. June July July to Aug. to Aug. Cocoanut Arecanut 1.
October.
whereas similar income from agricultural lands situated in the T.C. area was liable to tax, indeed, the income accrued between November 1, 1956, and March 31, 1957, i. e., the income accrued after the Madras area became part of the Kerala State, also companyld number be taxed.
In the T.C. area agricultural income was liable to tax under the Travancore Cochin Agricultural Income tax Act 22 of 1950 which came into force on April 1, 1951.
For companyvenience of reference we shall hereinafter describe the territories carved out of the Madras State as Madras area and the rest as T C area.
Travancore June to Nov. Cochin Nov. to March S. Malabar June to November N. Malabar Nov. to March Cardamon August to October to December January Pepper November to December to January February Tea Coffee November to September to March April Rubber Lemongrass Juno to September September It shows that in Cannanore, which includes Kasaragod Taluk, only arecanut, popper, tea, companyfee and rubber are harvested after November, but in the case of paddy, tapioca companyonut and lemongrass the harvesting season is before November cardamon is gathered partly before November and partly after November.
To remedy the situation brought about by historical reasons in the two geographical parts of the Kerala State, the Government of Kerala promulgated on January 12, 1959 the Agricultural Income tax Amendment Ordinance 11 of 1959.
87,745.36 and assessed the tax at Rs.
Under the said Act agricultural income derived from lands situated throughout the State of Kerala became assessable with effect from assessment year 1957 58.
Summer March to April.
After the formation of the State of Kerala on November 1, 1956, the laws in force in the State of Madras were companytinued in the Madras area and those in force in the Travancore Cochin State were companytinued in the T.C. area.
The following is the said state ment C. area Crop 6 Districts in acres Paddy 9,07,108 Tapioca 4,89,884 Cocoanut 7,74,667 Arecanut 50,534 Cardaraon 65,879 Pepper 87,216 Tea 78,043 Coffee 5,198 Rubber 2,10,703 Lemongrass 35,000 MADRAS AREA Total area for Palghat Calicut Cannanore Kerala State in acres in acres 4,67,5442,77,9232,46,22918,98,804 8,45540,13414,8245,53,207 45,4492,36,2951,19,01411,75,425 17,29235,23620,7711,23,833 4,2842,60099373,756 8,44931,58596,6662,23,916 1,4599,8013,68592,988 4,90926,7873,16640,060 10,10435,60014,2192,70,626 4,50050040,000 Crop Harvestiag Marketing Season Season Paddy Autumn, August September to to October.
Before the Amending Act was passed,, the petitioner, who has lands in different villages in Kasaragod Taluk, submitted a return of the income of his family for the assessment year 1957 58, and on June 30, 1958, the companycerned Income tax Officer determined the petitioners net income for the accounting period April 1, 1956, to March 31, 1957, and the tax payable thereon.
On November 10, 1960, the Income tax Officer determined the net income of the petitioner for the assessment year 1958 59 at Rs.
After the formation of the Kerala State, the Legislature of that State enacted the Travancore Cochin Agricultural Income tax Amendment Act, 1957.
tax Officer for disposal in accordance with law.
Under the States Reorganization Act, 1956 Central Act 37 of 1956 the Kerala State companyprising the following territories was formed a the territories of the existing State of Travancore Coching excluding the territories transferred to the State of Madras by Section 4 and b the territories companyprised in i Malabar District, excluding the islands of Laccadive and Minicoy, and ii Kasaragod Taluk of South Kanara District.
Whereunder the earlier Act of 1950 was extended to the Madras area with appropriate amendments.
Under the Act the territories companyprised in Kasaragod Taluk of South Kanara District and the District of Malabar in the Madras State were companystituted into a separate district known as the Malabar District in the State of Kerala.
February to March.
32 of the Constitution by different parties are directed against the Agricultural Income tax Officer, Kasaragod, and the State of Kerala, for a declaration that s, 2A of the Kerala Agricultural Income tax Act, 1950, as amended by Kerala Act 11 of 1959, hereinafter referred to as the Act is companystitutionally void and for quashing the orders of assessment made by the first respondent pursuant to the said provision As it is companymon case that the decision in the first petition would govern the second one, it would suffice if the facts in the first petition were given.
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION Writ Petition No.
32 of the Constitution of India for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
Kasaragod Taluk, wherein the agricultural lands of the petitioners family are situate, formed part of the district of South Kanara in the Madras State.
Subsequently the Kerala Legislature passed the Agricultural Income tax Amendment Act 11 of 1959 replacing the earlier Ordinance, hereinafter called the Amending Act.
August 29.
Petitions under Art.
N. Sanyal, Additional Solicitor General of India and Sardar Bahadur, for the respondents.
S. Pathak and R. Gopalakrishnan, for the petitioners.
103 of 1961.
After remand, on March 23, 1959, the Income tax Officer issued a numberice to the petitioner to submit his return of agricultural income for the assessment year 1957 58 in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance and the subsequent Amending Act replacing the said Ordinance.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SUBBA RAO, J. These two petitions filed under Art.
Pursuant to the provisions of that Act the Income tax authorities started proceedings to assess the income derived from lands situated in the Madras area for the year 1957 58, On a petition filed by some of the assessees, the Kerala High Court held that the State of Kerala had numberauthority to levy tax on agricultural income which accrued before November 1, 1956, from lands situated in the Madras area and that the assessments for 1957 58 were number sustainable under the Act even in respect of income which arose after November 1, 1956, on the ground that the previous year, as defined under the Act, was a period of twelve months ending on March 31, preceding the year for which assessment was to be made.
The result of the decision was that agricultural income derived from lands in the Madras area was number liable to tax for the assessment year 195768.,
