ORDER
1. The petitioner is seeking to quash the impugned Notice at Annexure-B dated 20-12-1999. That was a notice issued to the tenant Nirma Consumer Care Limited, in respect of property bearing katha No. 79 situated in 5th Main Road, Chamarajpet, Bangalore, calling upon it to pay Rs. 5,93,830.00 + 5% penalty for the default in payment of property tax. It is stated that the petitioner Mill and one T.R. Mills are tenants of the aforesaid property. It appears that the petitioner has made representations as per Annexures-E and F seeking to lift the attachment on the property in question for non-payment of property tax. Apart from seeking quashing of the notice at Annexure-B, petitioner is seeking a direction to respondents 1 and 3 to consider and dispose of the representations at Annexures-E and F.
2. The reliefs sought for by the petitioner cannot be granted. The impugned notice was not issued to the petitioner but to the Manager of Nirma Consumer Care Limited. The petitioner has no locus standi to question the same.
3. The payment of tax in respect of the property in question was the subject-matter in W.P. No. 4876 of 2000 filed by M/s. T.R. Mills. In that matter the petitioner herein was the 4th respondent. The said writ petition was disposed of on 13-9-2000 against M/s. T.R. Mills. Therefore,
the same subject-matter cannot be agitated; by the petitioner in this writ petition.
4. Even prior to the filing of aforesaid W.P. No. 4876 of 2000, the very T.R. Mills had filed W.P. No. 10901 of 1996 on the same subject-matter. After the failure of T.R. Mills, the present petition is filed by the petitioner even though the impugned notice was not issued to it. The matter is being litigated one way or the other with a view to avoid recovery of property tax by the Corporation from the person liable to pay it. It is nothing but abuse of process of the Court. Therefore, it ia a fit case for imposing exemplary costs.
5. Writ petition is dismissed with cost of Rs. 10,000/- by the petitioner to the Corporation within two weeks. If the petitioner fails to pay the cost, the same shall be recovered by the Corporation by way of arrears of land revenue by including this amount of cost along with the property tax due in respect of the property in question.