Above: NDMC building in New Delhi. Photo: ndmc.gov.in  

The Supreme Court bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan on Wednesday (November 29) was informed by petitioner that they are not against Unit Area Value (UAV) method of analysis but against Net Annual Value (NAV).

The bench told the petitioner to inform the court about last assessment of UAV rate in areas which are part of this petition.

The Court was hearing the PIL related to constitutional validity of the New Delhi Municipal Council Bye-laws, 2009.

During the course of proceedings, the petitioner cited the then Punjab Municipal Corporation Act (PMCA), 1911.

Referring to it, the petitioner contented that the provisions of bye-laws were struck down in PMCA, which were contrary to the principal act. The petitioner told the bench that their contention was for areas under Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ) and central region.

To which the Court asked the petitioner to consider only the modicum of taxation.

Earlier, the Delhi High court had struck down New Delhi Municipal Council Bye-laws, 2009 in August 2017.

The bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Pratibha M Singh had said: “The new impugned bye-laws in the present case seek to introduce a completely different system of rateable value than what is provided under the NDMC Act. While the NDMC Act provides for rateable value to be determined on the basis of the annual rent at which the land or building might reasonably be expected to let from year to year, the UAM envisages fixing the UAV with reference to the characteristics of a property and then multiplying the UAV by the area of the vacant land or covered space to find out the ‘annual value’.”

“Consequently, the court invalidates all actions taken by the NDMC under the new bye-laws in terms of levy, assessment, collection and enforcement of demand of property tax. All property demands made under the new bye-laws are hereby invalidated and declared unenforceable,” the bench had stated.

—India Legal Bureau