Gram panchayats lack authority to levy property tax on Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board industrial estates: High court | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: Karnataka high court has ruled that gram panchayats have no authority or jurisdiction to demand property tax from industrial establishments set up in industrial areas or estates of Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).In his order, Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum said that only in instances where the industrial areas or estates have been withdrawn from KIADB’s jurisdiction do gram panchayats gain jurisdiction. Industries set up in Tumakuru city, Sompura, Thyamagondlu, and Dabaspet KIADB industrial areas (all Bengaluru) challenged the demand notices for payment of property tax issued by their respective gram panchayats.The petitioners asserted that Section 37 of Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act stipulates that the provisions of Karnataka Municipalities Act or Panchayat Raj Act can apply to an industrial area only upon its withdrawal from the purview of KIADB by way of an express notification issued by the state govt. According to them, in their cases, no such notification was issued. The KIADB also supported the petitioners.On the other hand, gram panchayats submitted that they are the local body providing basic civic amenities and infrastructure to industrial plots. Therefore, they are authorised under Schedule-IV to Panchayat Raj Act to levy property tax on industrial establishments.Justice Magadum said none of the documents placed on record confer any statutory authority on the panchayat to collect taxes in respect of industrial establishments located within areas notified and developed by the KIADB under the provisions of the KIAD Act. Mere execution of a lease-cum-sale agreement or any administrative communication cannot vest such power in the gram panchayat in the absence of express delegation or statutory backing.“Consequently, the power to regulate and approve development activities, including the right to levy and collect tax within such industrial estates, vests exclusively with KIADB. The gram panchayat cannot usurp such authority in the absence of a specific statutory conferment,” the court said, allowing the petitions.
