JUDGMENT
B.H. Marlapalle, J.
1. This petition assails the demand of non-agricultural cess in respect of 286 acres and 12 gunthas land in possession of the petitioner and which was converted as non agricultural land. Various contentions were raised and while admitting the petition vide our order dated 28-11-2000, we confined the scope of this petition only to the following issues, viz :
(A) Out of 286 acres and 12 gunthas land, only 23 acres and 12 gunthas land was in the urban area and the balance was in non urban area and it was used for gardens, play grounds, entertainment centres, schools,
hospitals, post office, bank, market, gas godown, recreation centers and roads, etc. (civil amenities)
(B) The petitioner was not liable to pay non agricultural cess on the land utilised for civil amenities, on par with the exemption granted to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and by reading the provisions of Rule 22(2) of the Maharashtra land Revenue Code (change in the use of land and non agricultural Assessment) Rules, 1969; and
(C) The N. A, assessment for Beed urban area was only 50 paise per square metre and not Rs. 2/- per square metre.
2. We had also directed the Chief Secretary of the Government of Maharashtra to constitute a Committee under his Chairmanship with the Principal Secretary/Secretary from the Departments of Finance, Revenue, Irrigation and Energy as members by the said order dated 28-11-2000 and the Committee was to hear the petitioner as well as the concerned revenue authorities so as to evolve a formula to charge the N. A, assessment to the petitioner. The recommendations so made were directed to be submitted to this Court. Accordingly, the Chief Secretary of the State of Maharashtra Constituted a Committee under his Chairmanship and the Principal Secretary, Revenue, Principal Secretary, Energy and Secretary Irrigation as other members. The Committee heard the petitioner as well as the Additional Collector, Beed and the other Revenue authorities and prepared its recommendations which have been submitted to us. We have gone through the same.
3. It is noticed that the Government of Maharashtra had acquired land admeasuring 286 acres and 12 gunthas to be given to the petitioner at Parali Vaijnath in Beed district in 1966-67. The possession of the land was handed over to the petitioner in the same year with the guarantee period of thirty years for assessment of land revenue. Initially the non agricultural assessment was Rs. 15/- per acre in 1967 when the land was handed over to the petitioner and the said rate went upto Rs. 120/- per acre in 1997. The petitioner went on paying the N. A. assessment for the said guarantee period of thirty years without any grievance. The guarantee period ended in 1997 and according to Section 116 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 (for short ‘the Code’), it was obligatory to revise the rates of non agricultural assessment. In 1995, the Government of Maharashtra issued a Notification and fixed Rs. 2/-per square metre as the rate of N. A. assessment for Beed urban area. This Notification was subsequently stayed by the State Government in view of the opposition from the public and, therefore, taking into consideration this fact, the Committee decided to consider the petitioner’s case for N. A. assessment at the rates fixed in the year 1991.
4. There is no dispute that the rates fixed in the year 1991 for the urban area were 52 paise per square metre and for the non urban area Rs. 120/- per acre. The Committee noted in its recommendations that the petitioner is required to pay N. A. assessment on enhanced rate due to the following two reasons :
(a) The non agricultural assessment fixed on per square metre basis; and (b) According to the provisions laid down in Section 3 of the Maharashtra Increased Land Revenue Act, 1974, as the area with the petitioner was more than 12 hectares, it will have to pay 100% increased land revenue and in addition, it will have to pay 7 times Zilla Parishad cess on the other urban area. It is also required to pay 100% Panchayat Samiti cess for non urban area.
5. The petitioner’s contention that it deserved exemption under Rule 22(2) of the Maharashtra Land Revenue (Change in the Use of Land and Non Agricultural Assessment) Rules, 1969, in respect of the land utilised for civil amenities has been duly considered by the Committee in comparison with such exemption having been granted to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation. The Committee has considered that the petitioner’s land has been separated by constructing a boundary wall and it cannot be compared with the land used for Bus Stand and other offices of the M.S.R.T.C. The petitioner has constructed a township and to cater to the same, there were other civil amenities like schools, roads, post office and bank, etc. These are basically the amenities for its own employees and their family members who are the occupants of the houses in the township. We find the reason given by the Committee denying the benefit of Rule 22(2) of the Assessment Rules, 1969, as sound.
6. Coming to the next issue of urban and non urban area distribution, the Committee has noted that in the year 1995, the Collector, Beed, with the permission of the State Government, declared an area of 133 acres and 25 gunthas out of 286 acres and 12 gunthas, in possession of the petitioner, as an urban area. Obviously, the balance i.e. 152 acres and 27 gunthas land remained to be non urban area within the meaning of Section 2(42) of the Code. Section 110 deals with the procedure for determining the non agricultural assessment of land in non urban areas and Section 111 to 116 of the Code deal with the same procedure in respect of the land in urban areas. The Code, thus, recognises only two areas i.e. urban and non urban.
7. However, we have noticed from the recommendations of the Committee that the balance of 152 acres and 27 gunthas land has been called as “other urban area”, which is outside the Municipal boundaries of Parali town. On this presumption, the Committee proceeded to assess the N. A. cess on uniform basis for urban as well as non urban areas at the rate of 52 paise per square metre. This presumption has not only resulted in grave injustice to the petitioner but indeed a penalty to those, who hold non agricultural land out of the Municipal limits. For example, a land owner in the Municipal limits would pay 52 paise + 52 paise per square metre, but the land owner, who is outside the Municipal limits, would pay N. A. assessment per square meter at the rate of 52 paise + 52 paise + (52 paise x 7 Zilla Parishad Sub-cess) + 52 paise Panchayat Samiti Sub-cess = Rs. 5.20 paise per square metre. The presumption of “non urban area” is not recognised by the Code and there is nothing on record to show that the entire area of Parali Taluka or town (within the
Municipal limits as well as beyond the Municipal limits) has been declared as an urban area vide a specific Notification by the State Government. Section 2(42) of the Code reads thus :
“urban area” means the area for the time being included within the limits of any municipal corporation, municipality constituted under any law for the time being in force or of any village or group of villages, which may be notified by the State Government as urban area, regard being had to the density of population and of buildings in the area and the expression “non-urban area” shall be construed accordingly.
8. It is, therefore, obvious that the Committee, in its recommendations, committed an error in drawing the chart pertaining to N. A. assessment in respect of the land admeasuring 152 acres and 27 gunthas which falls outside the municipal limits of Parli Vaijnath, while we uphold the Committee’s recommendations in respect of the urban area admeasuring 133 acres and 25 gunthas. Section 110 of the Code recognizes the non urban area to be divided in two classes i.e. Class-I and Class-II on the basis of the market value of the concerned land, due regard being had to the situation of the land, the non agricultural purpose for which it was used and the advantages and disadvantages attaching thereto. Even if we presume that the balance land of 152 acres and 27 gunthas falls in Class-I within the meaning of Section 110(1) of the Code, the N. A. assessment on the same cannot exceed two paise per square metre per year under the provisions of Section 110(2) of the Code. It is for these reasons, we do not accept the Committee’s recommendations for N.A. assessment in respect of the non urban area admeasuring 152 acres and 27 gunthas in possession of the petitioner. The said assessment cannot be made beyond the rate of 2 paise per square metre per annum + 100% increased land revenue + 7 times Z. P. Sub-cess + 100% P. S. Sub-cess is on the basis of Section 3 of the Maharashtra Increased Land Revenue Act, 1974, as the petitioner is holding more than 12 hectares land in non urban area. It is well established, by a catena of decisions, that when a statute prescribes a particular thing to be done in a particular manner, it ought to be done in that manner alone.
9. In the result, we allow the petition and direct the Collector, Beed to determine the N. A. assessment for the years 1997-98 to 2000-2001 on the basis of Chart I of the Committee’s recommendations for the urban area admeasuring 133 acres and 25 gunthas and on the basis of provisions of Section 110 in respect of non urban area admeasuring 152 acres and 27 gunthas. A fresh bill in that regard shall be issued within a period of two weeks from today and the amount paid by the petitioner shall be adjusted from the total bill. If there is excess amount paid by the petitioner, the same shall be adjustable against the future liabilities. Let it be noted that these directions pertain to the period 1997-98 to 2000-2001 only.
10. Rule is made absolute in terms of the above order. Costs in cause.