VIL Appeal Nos
1923 1924 of 1972
From the Judgment and Decree dated 25 10 1957 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in First Appeal No 13852 AK Sen BP Maheshwari and Suresh Sethi for the appellant in CA No 192372 and respondent in CA No 192472
DN Mukherjee for the respondent in CA No 192372 and for appellant in CA 192472
CHANDRACHUD J These are cross appeals arising out of a judgment rendered by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in First Appeal No 138 of 1952 modifying the decree passed by the First Additional District Judge Jabalpur in Civil Suit No 6 B of 1949
It would be convenient to refer to the parties as plaintiffs and defendants plaintiffs being the Bata Shoe Co Ltd and the defendants being the Corporation for the City of Jabalpur
Plaintiffs are a limited company having their registered office at Calcutta
At the relevant time they had their factories at Batanagar in West Bengal Batapur in West Punjab Palsia Digha in Bihar and Faridabad near Delhi
The sale s organisation of the plaintiffs is situated at Cal cutta and that organisation sells manufactured articles through the Company s retail shops situated in different parts of India and Pakistan
Three such retail shops were situated at Jabalpur
In respect of the articles which were imported by the retail shops at Jabalpur within the limits of the then Jabalpur Municipal Committee between April 1 1943 and March 31 1945 the plaintiffs had paid to the Municipal Committee a sum of Rs 16528 odd as control duty
This duty was assessed by the Muncipal Committee on an amount which was 40 less than the retail price of the goods which were brought within the municipal limits
In the year 1946 47 the Municipal Committee decided to reopen and revise
the assessment by 185 charging the octroi duty on an amount which was only 6 14 less than the retail price of the goods
The Municipal Committee further decided to levy double the duty by way of penalty for the aforesaid period on the ground that the plaintiffs bad intentionally evaded the payment of the duty payable on the goods
Plaintiffs preferred an appeal against the decision of the Municipal Committee to the Sub Divisional Officer Jabalpur who by an order dated July 14 1948 modified the decision of the Municipal Committee by permitting them to charge the octroi duty on an amount which was less by 12 1 2  than the retail price of the goods
The Sub Divisional Officer however upheld the assessment of double duty
The revision application preferred by the plaintiffs to the Board of Revenue was rejected on October 4 1948 on the ground that it was not maintainable
In conformity with the appellate order but under protest plaintiffs paid to the Municipal Committee a sum of Rs 21071 1 3 on August 6 1948
Defendants demanded a further sum of Rs 10604 2 6 alleging that they had over looked asking for it through mistake
Plaintiffs paid that amount too on September 22 1948 under protest
On June 20 1949 they filed a suit against the Municipal Committee for recovery of the total amount of Rs 31675 3 9 with interest at 6 per annum on the ground that the defendants were not entitled to recover the amount by way of octroi duty and penalty
During the pendency of the suit the Municipal Committee was succeeded by the Corporation for the City of Jabalpur who were substituted as defendants to the suit
The Trial Court decreed the suit to the extent of Rs 32629 7 0 calculating the interest at 4 holding that the defendants could not charge octroi duty on an amount arrived at by anything less than 40 from the retail sale price that the recovery of octroi duty by deducting a sum of 12 12 only from the retail price was illegal and that the defendants were not justified in recovering double duty by way of penalty since the plaintiffs had not intentional ly evaded the payment of proper duty
Defendants had raised contentions both as regards the jurisdiction of the Civil Court to entertain the suit and as regards limitation but the Trial Court rejected those contentions and held that it had jurisdiction to entertain the Suit and that it was not barred by limitation
In appeal the High Court held that the defendants were entitled to revise and reopen the assessment and that the re assessment
of octroi duty which was ultimately fixed in appeal by the Sub Divisional Officer could not be ques tioned by the plaintiffs in the Civil Court
On the ques tion of limitation the High Court held that applying the special period of limitation provided in section 48 of the Cen tral Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act 1922 the suit was within limitation as regards the payment made by the plaintiffs on September 22 1948 but that it was barred by limitation as regards the payment made on August 6 1948
The suit in regard to the amount paid to the Municipal Committee in September 1948 was held to be within limitation on account 186 of the intervening summer vacation during which the Courts were closed
According to the High Court the exaction of the double duty being beyond the  powers of the defendants the special period of limitation was not attracted and the plaintiffs were therefore entitled to recover the sum paid by way of double duty
In the result the High Court passed a decree in the sum of Rs 24103 13 3 which according to it represented the double duty wrongly recovered by the defendants from the plaintiffs
The High Court has granted to both the parties a certificate to file an appeal to this Court under article 1331  of the Constitution and both par ties being partly aggrieved by the decree of the High Court have filed cross appeals
The first question for consideration is whether the civil court has jurisdiction to entertain the suit brought by the plaintiffs
It is undisputed that the Municipal Committee had the power under section 651e of the Act of 1922 to impose octroi tax on the goods brought within the Munici pal limits for sale consumption or use therein
Under rule 6b framed by the Provincial Government in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 71 76 and 85 of that Act octroi duty was payable on the current price of articles which is equivalent to the cost price of the articles to the importer plus the cost of carriage and not the price prevailing in the local market
Prior to 1940 plaintiffs used to submit to the defendants an invoice relating to the imported goods wherein the cost price used to be shown by deducting from the retail price the aggregate amount of expenses amounting to 40
Defendants later disputed the deduction claimed by the plaintiffs and informed the latter by a letter of May 7 1940 that octroi duty was leviable on the cost price of the goods as shown in the invoice plus the freight charges
Plaintiffs accepted that view and started showing in the invoices the cost price of the articles and the freight charges
Defendants used to assess octroi duty on those invoices until the dispute giving rise to the present suit arose during the year 1946 47 when the basis for charging the duty was fixed at 614 less than the retail price of the goods and the assessments already made were reopened with a view to revising them
Section 831 of the Act of 1922 provides for appeal against the assessment or levy of any tax under the Act to the Deputy Commissioner or to such other officer as may be empowered by the Provincial Government in that behalf
Section 843 of the Act which bears directly on the question of jurisdiction reads thus 843 No objection shall be taken to any valuation assessment or levy nor shah the liability of any person to
be assessed or taxed be questioned in any other manner or by any other authority than is provided in this Act
 It is plain from this sub section that any valuation as sessment or levy and the liablity of any person to be as sessed or taxed can be questioned only in the manner pre scribed by the Act and by the authority mentioned in the Act and in no other manner or by any other authority
Since the sub section expressly prohibits a challenge to a valuation assessment or levy in any other manner  than is provided in this 187 Act and since the Act has devised its own special machin ery for inquiring into and adjudicating upon such chal lenges the common remedy of a suit stands necessarily excluded and cannot be availed of by a person aggrieved by an order of assessment to octroi duty
Similarly the sub section excludes expressly the power of any other authority than is provided in this Act to entertain an objection to any valuation assessment or levy of octroi
This part of the provision is in the nature of ouster of the jurisdiction of Civil Courts at least by necessary impli cation to entertain an objection to any valuationassess ment or levy
This is the evident intendment meaning and implication of the provision
In Wolverhmpton New Waterworks Company vs Hawkesford1 willes J referred to various classes of cases in which the jurisdiction of ordinary courts is excluded the third class of such cases being where a liability not existing at common law is created by a statute which at the same time gives a special and particular remedy for enforcing it
 The view of Willes J that with respect to that class of cases the party must adopt the form of remedy given by the statute and no other was accepted by the Privy Council in Secretary of State vs Mask  Company2 and by the House of Lords in Neville vs London  Express Newspaper Limited3
In Mask  Company s 2 case the Privy Council was dealing with the provisions of the Sea Customs Act 1876 section 186 whereof gave a right of appeal to the person aggrieved by any decision or order passed by the Customs Officers under that Act
Section 191 further gave the aggrieved person a right to make an application to the Local Government for revision of the appellate decision or order
The last paragraph of section 188 provided Every order passed in appeal under this section shall subject to the power of revision conferred by section 191 be
final
There was no express exclusion of the civil courts  Juris diction to entertain a suit challenging an order passed by a Customs Officer but the Judicial Committee while recognis ing that the exclusion of the jurisdiction of civil courts was not to be readily inferred and that such exclusion must either be explicitly expressed or clearly implied observed that looking at the last paragraph of section 188 of the Sea Customs Act it was difficult to conceive what further chal lenge of the order was intended to be excluded other than a challenge in the Civil Courts
If a provision merely giving finality to an order could be construed as ousting the civil Court s jurisdiction section 843 of the Act which is far more expressive can legitimately be construed to have the same effect
It excludes in terms a challenge to the various things therein mentioned in any other manner or by any other authority than is provided in the Act
But counsel for the plaintiffs contends that section 843 cannot oust the civil Court s jurisdiction to entertain the present suit because the defendant have no power at all either under the Act or under the 1  2 67 IA 222
3 88 Rules framed thereunder to reopen or revise an assessment to octroi duty
An assessment once made is final subject to the remedies which the Act provides to the aggrieved party and since according to the counsel the reopening of assessment is wholly without jurisdiction the suit to chal lenge it is competent
The argument in other words is that section 843 may bar a suit to challenge an act which is within the purview of the Act or the Rules but it cannot bar a suit to challenge an act which is outside the Act or the Rules and is therefore wholly lacking in jurisdiction
In support of the contention that the civil Court has jurisdiction to entertain the suit plaintiffs rely princi pally on the decisions of this Court in Bharat Kala Bhandar Ltd vs Municipal Committee Dhamangaon1 BM Lakhani vs Malkapur Municipality and Dhulabhai and others vs The State of Madhya Pradesh3
The appellants in Bharat Kala Bhandar s1 case filed a suit for recovery of excise tax paid by them under section 661b of the Central Provinces Municipalities Act 1922 on the ground that after the coming into force of section 142A of the Government of India Act 1935 till January 25 1950 a tax in excess of Rs 50 per annum could not be imposed by the Municipal Commit tee and that after the coming into force of the Constitu tion imposition of tax in excess of Rs 250 per annum was tinconstitutional
The Trial Court decreed the suit but on appeal the High Court held that the suit was bad for non compliance with section 48 of the CP Act according to which a suit for anything done or purported to be done under the Act had to be instituted within six months from the date of the accrual of the cause of action
In answer the Municipal Committee contended that apart from the provisions of section 48 the suit was barred by section 843 under which no objection could be taken to any assessment in any other manner than is provided in the Act
That section is the very same provi sion under which the present suit according to the defend ants is said to be barred from the cognisance of the civil Courts
It was held by this Court by majority that since the Municipal Committee had no authority to levy a tax beyond what was permitted by section 142A of the Government of India Act or article 276 of the Constitution the assessment proceedings were totally void insolaf as they purported to levy a tax in excess of the constitutionally permissible limits and therefore the suit was maintainable
The question involved in BM Lakhani vs Malkapur Munic ipality supra was similar the contention being that the recoveries which were made in contravention of section 142 A of the Government of India Act 1935 and article 2762 of the Constitution were wholly without jurisdiction and therefore a suit for refund of tax recovered by the Municipality in violation of the constitutional provisions was maintainable
That contention was accepted by this Court which treated the matter as concluded by the decision in Bharat Kala Bhandar s supra case
1  2 3  189 In Dhulabhai and others vs The State of Madhya Pradesh supra the position was similar to that in the two cases noticed above
Section 17 of the Madhya Bharat Sales Tax Act provided that no assessment made and no order passed under the Act or the Rules made thereunder shall be called in question in any Court
It was conceded by the State Government that the sales tax levied on the appellants was unconstitutional in view of article 301 of the Constitution but it was contended that the civil Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the appellants  suit for refund of the tax in view of section 17 of the Act
After an examination of various decisions including those to which we have referred in this judgment Hidayatullah J who spoke for the Constitu tion Bench formulated seven propositions bearing on the construction of statutes which expressly or by necessary implication bar the jurisdiction of civil Courts
It is unnecessary to examine each One of those propositions for the short reason that as in the case of Bharat Kala Bhan dar and BM Lakhani supra so in the case of Dhulabhai supra the recovery of sales tax was unconstitutional and the suit for that reason was held maintainable
Attention must however be drawn to propositions 1 4 and 6
The 1st proposition states that where the statute gives a finality to the orders of the special tribunals the Civil Courts  jurisdiction must be held to be excluded if there is adequate remedy to do what the Civil Courts would normally do in a suit
Such provision however does not exclude those cases where the provisions of the particular Act have not been complied with or the statutory tribunal has not acted in conformity with the fundamental principles of judicial procedure
The 4th proposition is that when a provision is already declared unconstitutional or the con stitutionality of any provision is to be challenged a suit is open
The 6th proposition which bears more appropriately on the instant case says that questions of the correctness of the assessment apart from its constitutionality are for the decision of the authorities and a civil suit does not lie if the orders of the authorities are declared to be final or there is an express prohibition in the particular Act
In either case the scheme of the particular Act must be examined because it is a relevant enquiry
The plaintiffs  contention that the suit is not barred from the cognizance of the civil Court is effectively an swered by these propositions but even so a discussion of the jurisdictional issue will not be complete without reference to a decision rendered by a seven Judge Bench of this Court in Kamla Mills Ltd vs State of Bombay1
The appellants therein were assessed to sales tax on sales which were treated by the Sales Tax authorities as inside sales  but which according to the decision in Bengal Immunity Co Ltd vs State of Bihar2 were outside sales  and therefore non taxable under the Bombay Sales Tax Act 1946
After the decision in Bengal Immunity2 case which came on September 6 1955 the appellants discovered that they were illegally subjected to sales tax and since the period prescribed by the Act for adopting the remedies thereunder had expired the appellants flied a suit for recovery of the sales tax illegally collected from them in respect 1 19661 SCR 2 190 of the outside sales
The State of Bombay contended that the suit was
barred by section 20 of the Act which provided to the extent material that no assessment made and no order passed under the Act or the Rules
shall be called into question in any civil Court
It was held by this
Court that section 20 protected all assessments made under the Act or the Rules made thereunder and that the protection was wide enough to cover assessments made by the appropriate author ities under the Act whether the assessments were made cor rectly or not
Observing that if the appropriate authority while exercising its jurisdiction and powers under the relevant provisions of the Act comes erroneously to the conclusion that a transaction which is an outside sale is not an outside sale and proceeds to levy sales tax on it its decision cannot be said to be without jurisdiction the Court held that the suit was barred from the cognizance of the civil Court
In coming to this conclusionthe Court relied upon the decision in Firm and Illuri Subhaya Chetty  sons vs The state of Andhra Pradesh1 which had taken the view while interpreting a similar provision in section 18A of the Madras General Sales Tax
Act that the expression any assessment made under this Act was wide enough to cover all assessments made by the appropriate authorities under the Act whether the said assessments were made correctly or not
The decision in Bharat Kala Bhandar supra was brought to the notice of the Court in Kamla Mills supra case but that decision was distinguished on the ground that the provision which fell for construction therein was worded differently and as observed in Mask  Co supra  deci sions on other statutory provisions are not of materrial assistance except in so far as general principles of con struction are laid down
With great respect the decision in Bharat Kala Bhandar supra is distinguishable for the weightier reason that the tax recovered in that case was unconstitutional and no provision of a statute could  be construed as laying down that no Court shall have jurisdic tion to order a refund of a tax collected in violation of a constitutional provision
If there were a provision which so provided or which could be so construed that provision would itself be unconstitutional
In Kamla Mills supra case it was observed that if a statute creates a special right or liability pro vides for the determination of that right or liability by tribunals specially constituted in that behalf and lays down that all questions in regard to that right or liability shall exclusively determined by the tribunals so constitut ed it becomes pertinent to enquire whether remedies nor mally associated with actions a civil Court are prescribed by the said statute or not
If the Court is satisfied that the Act provides no remedy for making a claim for the recov ery of an illegally collected tax the Court might hesitate to construe a provision giving finality to the orders passed by the tribunals specially created by the Act as creating an absolute bar to the suit and if such a construction was not reasonably possible the Court would be called upon to examine the constitutionality of the provision excluding the civil Court s jurisdiction in the light of articles 19 and 31 of the Constitution
According to the 1st proposition in Dhulabhai s supra case if the statute gives finality to the orders passed by the special 1  191 tribunals created by it the civil Courts jurisdiction would be excluded if the statute provides adequate remedies to do what the civil Courts are normally empowered to do in a suit
The 6th proposition in that case states that ques tions of the correctness of the assessment apart from its constitutionality are for the decision of the authorities and a civil suit does not lie if the orders of the authori ties are declared to be final or there is an express prohi bition in the particular Act
Further that in either case the scheme of the particular Act must be examined because it is a relevant enquiry
These considerations make it neces sary to examine the relevant provisions of the Act of 1922 and the Rules framed thereunder with a view to seeing whether they provide adequate remedies to the aggrieved party to challenge a wrong or illegal exaction of octroi duty and whether correspondingly the authorities specially created by the Act have the power to do what civil Courts are generally empowered to do
This inquiry is relevant even though section 843 of the Act does not merely say that orders passed by the special tribunals shall be final but provides that no objection shall be taken to any assessment levy etc in any other manner or by any other authority than is provided in the Act
Section 661b of the CP and Berar Municipali ties Act 1922 empowers the Municipal Committee to impose an octroi on animals or goods brought within the limits of the municipality for sale consumption or use within those limits
Section 831 provides that an appeal against the assessment or levy of or refusal to refund any tax under the Act shall lie to the Deputy Commissioner or to such other officer as may be empowered by the Provincial Govern ment in that behalf Sub section 1 A of section 83 gives to the person aggrieved by the decision the appellate authority the right to apply to the State Government for revision of the decision on the ground a that the decision is contrary to law or is repugnant to any principle of assessment of a tax or b that the appellate authority has exercised a jurisdiction not vested in it by law or has failed to exercise the jurisdiction vested in it by law
Section 832 empowers the appellate or revision authority to draw up a statement of the case and make a reference to the High Court for its decision if any
question as to the liability to assessment or as to the principle of assessment arises in the matter on which the authority entertains a reasonable doubt
Then comes section 84 which by sub section
1  provides for a limitation of 30 days for appeal and by sub section
3 lays down the injunction which is the bone of contentions in the instant case that no objection shall be taken to any valua tion assessment or levy nor shall the liability of any person to be taxed or assessed be questioned in any other manner or by any other authority than to is provided in the Act
Section 71 of the Act empowers the Provincial Government make rules regulating the assessment of taxes and for preventing evasion of assessment
Section 76 which appears under the heading Collection of taxes empowers the government to make rules regulating the collection of taxes including the prevention of evasion of payment and payment of lump sums in composition
Section 85 confers similar empowerment to make rules regulating the refund of taxes
192 In exercise of the powers conferred by section 71 76 and 85 and in supersession of the earlier rules the Provincial Government made rules for the assessment collection and refund of the octroi tax which were gazetted on April 9 1929 and were amended from time to time
Rule provides that articles subject to octroi duty are liable to duty as soon as they enter the octroi limits
Rule 6b which prescribes the mode of calculating octroi duty provides that the cur rent prices of articles liable to ad valorem duty shall be the cost price to the importer plus the cost of carriage and not the price prevailing in the local market
Rule 8 pre scribes the details of the procedure for assessing the octroi duty
The note to that rule says that the duty shall be assessed on invoice and not on VP covers Bank re ceipts letters and hundies
Rules 9a b c 10b 12 13a and 13b provide for various matters relating to assessment and levy of octroi duty
Rule l4b provides that any person importing or bringing any dutiable articles within the octroi limits of the municipality without paying the duty or without giving declaration to the Octroi Mohar rir shall be liable to pay double the duty and shall in addition be liable to be prosecuted to evasion of duty
Rules 29 onwards deal with Refund of Octroi
Rule 31 out of that collocation of rules prescribes how and when applications for
refunds may be made
These provisions show in the first place that the de fendants indubitably possess the right and the power to assess and recover octroi duty and double duty on goods which are brought within the municipal limits for sale consumption or use therein
The circumstance that the defendants might have acted in excess of or irregularly in the exercise of that power cannot support the conclusion that the assessment or recovery of the tax is without jurisdiction
Applying the test in Kamla Mills supra if the appropriate authority while exercising its Jurisdic tion and powers under the relevant provisions of the Act holds erroneously that an assessment already made can be corrected or that an assessee is liable to pay double duty when rule 14b in fact does not justify such an imposi tion it cannot be said that the decision of the authority is without jurisdiction
Questions of the correctness of the assessment apart from its constitutionality are as held in DhulaBhai supra for the decision of the author ities set up by the Act and a civil suit cannot lie if the orders of those authorities are given finality
There is no constitutional prohibition to the assessment which is im peached in the instant case as there was in Bharat Kala Bhandar supra BM Lakhani supra and Dhulabhai supra
The tax imposed in those cases being unconstitu tional its levy as said by Mudholkar J who spoke for the majority in Bharat Kala Bhandar supra was without a vestige or semblance of authority or even a shadow of right
 That is in regard to the power of the authority concerned to reassess and to levy double duty
Secondly both the Act and the Rules contain provisions which we have noticed above enabling the aggrieved party effectively to challenge an illegal assessment or levy of double duty
By reason of the existence and availability of those special remedies the ordinary remedy by way of a suit would be excluded on a true interpretation of section 843 of the Act
193 The argument that double duty was levied on the plaintiffs though justified by the terms of rule 14b goes to the correctness of the levy not to the jurisdiction of the assessing authority
That rule authorizes the imposition of double duty if dutiable articles are imported a without paying the duty or b without giving declaration to the Octroi Moharrir
It may be that neither of these two eventualities occurred and therefore there was no justifica tion for imposing double duty
But the error could be corrected only in the manner provided in the Act and by the authority prescribed therein
The remedy by way of a suit is barred
Plaintiffs sought support to their contention as regards the maintainability of the suit for refund of double duty and revised duty from certain observations contained in Firm Seth Radha Kishan vs Administrator Municipal Commit tee Ludhiana1 to the effect that a suit in a civil Court will always lie to question the order of a tribunal created by a statute even if its order is expressly or by neces sary implication made final if the said tribunal abuses its power or does not act under the Act but in violation of its provisions
 In the first place the assessment in the instant case was made by the authority duly empowered to do so and secondly the authority was acting under the Act while revising the assessment and imposing double duty
It had the power to assess and levy double duty
If it exceeded that power it acted wrongly not without jurisdiction
In Firm Seth Radha Kishan supra the Municipal Committee being entitled to impose a certain rate of tax on common salt and higher rate in respect of salt of other kinds imposed tax at the higher rate on sambhar salt which was a variety of common salt
Section 86 of the Punjab Municipal Act 1911 provided that the liability of any person to be taxed cannot be questioned in any manner or by any authority other than that provided in the Act
That provision is identical with section 843 of the CP Municipalities Act 1922 with which we are concerned in the instant case
Section 862 of the Punjab Act provided that no refund of any tax shall be claimed by any person otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Rules thereunder
It was held by this Court that the liability to pay terminal tax was created by the Act and since a remedy was given to the party aggrieved in the enforcement of that liability the suit for refund was not maintainable by reason of section 86
The observations on which plaintiffs rely cannot in the context be taken to mean that the Act protects correct assessments only and that every incorrect or wrong order of assessment can be challenged by a suit though the statute gives it finality and provides full and effective remedies to challenge it
Except in matters of constitutionality and the like a self contained Code must have priority over the common means of vindicating rights
We would like to add that if the observations on which plaintiffs rely are to be understood literally they are contrary to the decision in Kamla Mills supra case where speaking for a seven Judge Bench Gajendragadkar CJ ob served that if the appropriate authority while exercising its jurisdiction and powers under the relevant provisions of the Act comes to an erroneous conclusion it cannot be said that the decision is without jurisdiction p 78
1 19641 2 SCR 273 284
194 Plaintiff s reliance on the 1st proposition in Dhuabhw s supra case is equally misconceived
The first two propo sitions formulated in that case contain a dichotomy
The l st proposition refers to cases where the statute merely gives finality to orders of special tribunals
In such cases according to that proposition the civil Court s jurisdiction would not be excluded if the provisions of the particular Act arc not complied with
The instant case does not fall under the 1st
proposition because section 843 of the Act does not merely give finality to the orders passed by the special tribunals
It provides expressly that such orders shall not be questioned in any other manner or by any other authority than is provided in the Act
The 2nd proposition deals in its first paragraph with cases where there is an express bar to the civil Courts  jurisdic tion
The second paragraph of that proposition deals with cases where there is no express exclusion
The instant case falls under either one or the other paragraph of this proposition which rendered it necessary to examine whether the Act creates special rights and liabilities provides for their determination by laying down that such rights and liabilities shall be determined by the special tribunals constituted under it and whether remedies normally associat ed with actions in civil Courts are prescribed by the Act
Upon that examination we concluded that the suit is barred from the cognizance of the Civil Court
Not only that the Act of 1922 provides an effective remedy to an aggrieved party to challenge the assessment of octroi duty and to claim refund of duty illegally paid or recovered but the plaintiffs in fact availed themselves of these remedies
In 1946 47 when the Municipal Committee reopened and revised the past assessments by charging octroi duty on an amount which was only 614 less than the retail price of the goods and when it levied double duty by way of penalty plaintiffs preferred an appeal against the decision of the Municipal Committee to the Sub Divisional Officer Jabalpur who by an order dated  July 14 1946 modified the decision of the Committee by asking them to charge octroi duty on an amount which was less by 1212instead of 614 than the retail price of the goods
Plaintiffs succeeded to an extent though the Sub Divisional Officer upheld the assessment of double duty
Having exhausted their remedies under the Act and having been benefited by the appellate decision though partly plaintiffs turned to the civil Court to claim the refund
That is impermissible in view of the provision contained in section 843 of the Act
In the result Civil Appeal No 1923 of 1972 filed by the plaintiffs fails and is dismissed
Civil Appeal No 1924 of 1972 filed by the defendants succeeds and is allowed with the result that the plaintiffs  suit will stand dis missed
Considering that the defendants revised the assess ment after a lapse of time parties will bear their costs throughout
PBR CA 192372 dismissed
CA 192472 allowed


Summary:
The Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act 1922 empowers a municipality to assess and recover octroi duty on goods brought within the municipal limits for sale
consumption and use therein
Under the Act an appeal against assessment or levy or refusal to refund any tax lies to a designated official
A person aggrieved by the decision of the appellate authority has a right to apply to the State Government for revision
The Act also provides for refer ence to the High Court on questions like liability to as sessment or principles of assessment and so on
Section 84 3 lays down that no objection shall be taken to any valuation
assessment or levy nor shall the liability of any person to be taxed or assessed be questioned in any other manner or by any other authority than is provided in the Act Rule 14b of the Rules framed under the Act provides that any person importing or bringing any dutiable articles within the octroi limits of a municipality without paying the duty or without giving a declaration to the octroi Moharrir shall be liable to pay double the duty and shall in addition be liable to be prosecuted for evasion of duty
The plaintiffs imported within the municipal limits for sale in their retail shops articles manufactured by them in their factories situated at different places in the country
They paid the octroi levied by the municipality at a certain rate
But Sometime later the municipality reopened and revised the assessment and charged octroi at a different rate
It also levied double the duty by way of penalty on the ground that the plaintiffs had intentionally evaded payment of duty on the goods
The appellate author ity modified the decision of the municipality but upheld the assessment of double duty
The plaintiffs  revision appli cation was rejected by the Board of Revenue
The plaintiffs paid the duty and penalty under protest and filed a suit for recovery of the amount on the ground that the municipality was not entitled to recover the amount of octroi duty and penalty
Overruling the defendant munic ipality s objection as regards the civil court s jurisdic tion to entertain the suit the trial court decreed the suit
On appeal the High Court held that the defendants were entitled to revise and reopen the assessment and that the reassessment of duty fixed in appeal by the appellate au thority could not be questioned by the plaintiffs in a civil court
In appeal it was contended in this Court by the plain tiffs that section 843 may bar a suit to challenge an act which was within the purview of the Act but it could not bar a suit to challenge an act which was outside the Act or the Rules and since in this case the defendant had no power to revise or reopen the assessment
its action was wholly lacking in jurisdiction and so the suit was competent
Dismissing the appeal HELD Since section 843 expressly prohibits a challenge to valuation assessment or levy in any other manner   than is provided in this Act and since the Act has devised its own special machinery for inquiring into and adjudicating upon such challenges the common remedy of a suit stands necessarily cxcluded and cannot be availed of by a person aggrieved by an order 183 assessment to octroi duty
Similarly the sub section excludes expressly the power of any other authority than is provided in this Act to entertain an objection to any valuation assessment or levy of octroi
This art of the provision is in the nature of ouster of jurisdiction of civil courts at least by necessary implication to enter tain an objection to any valuation assessment or levy 187 A 1
Two of the propositions bearing on the construction of statutes which expressly or by necessary implication bar the jurisdiction of civil courts stated in Dhulabhai  Ors
vs The State of Madhya Pradesh  and which are relevant for the purposes of this case are i where the statute gives finality to the orders of special tribunals the civil court s jurisdiction must be held to be excluded if there is an adequate remedy to do what the civil courts would normally do in a suit
Such provision howev er does not exclude cases where the provisions of the particular Act have not been complied with or the statutory tribunal has not acted in conformity with the fundamental principles of judicial procedure ii questions of the correctness of the assessment apart from its constitution ality are for the decision of the authorities and a civil suit does not lie
if the orders of the authorities are declared to be final or there is an express prohibition in the particular Act In either case the scheme of the par ticular Act must be examined because it is a relevant en quiry
189 D F a In the instant case the various provisions of the Act show in the first place that the municipality possesses the right and the power to assess and recover octroi duty and double duty on goods brought within the municipal limits for sale consumption or use therein
The circumstance that the municility might have acted in excess of or irregularly in the exercise of that power could not support the conclusion that the assessment or recovery of the tax was without jurisdiction
If the appropriate authority while exercis ing its jurisdiction and powers under the relevant provi sions of the
Act holds erroneously that an assessment already made can be corrected or that an assessee is liable to pay double duty it cannot be said that the decision of the authority is without jurisdiction
192 E F b Both the Act and the Rules contain provisions ena bling the aggrieved party to challenge an illegal assessment or levy of double duty
By reason of the existence and availability of those special remedies the ordinary remedy by way of a suit would be excluded on a true interpretation of section 843 of the Act
193 H c Levy of double duty though not justified by the terms of r 14b goes to the correctness of the levy and not to the jurisdiction of the assessing authority
Assuming that neither of the two eventualities mentioned in r 14b occurred and therefore there was no justification for imposing double duty the error could be corrected only in the manner provided in the Act and by the authority pre scribed therein
The remedy by way of a suit is barred
193 A B d The suit for refund of double duty or revised duty is not maintainable because in the first place the assess ment was made by the authority duly empowered to do so and secondly the authority was acting under the Act while revis ing the assessment and imposing double duty
It had the power to assess and levy double duty
If it exceeded that power it acted wrongly but not without jurisdiction
193 C D e It is not correct to say that the Act protects correct assessments only and that every incorrect or wrong order of assessment can be challenged by a suit though the statute gives it finality and provides full and effective remedies to challenge it
Except in matters of constitu tionality and the like a selfcontained Code must have priority over the common means of vindicating rights
If the appropriate authority while exercising its jurisdic tion anti power under the relevant provisions of the Act
comes to an erroneous conclusion it cannot be said that the decision is without jurisdiction
193 F G Dhulabhai and Others vs The State of Madhya Pradesh  Kamla Mills Ltd vs State of Bombay  applied
13 240SCI77 184 Bharat Kala Bhandar Ltd vs Municipal Committee Dha mangaon   BM Lahani vs Malkapur Munici pality and Firm Seth Radka Kishan vs Administrator Municipal Committee Ludhiana 19541 2 SCR 273 284 distinguished
Wolverhamton New Waterworks Company vs Hawkerford  Secretary of State vs Mask  Company 67 IR 222 Naville vs London Express Newspaper Limited  Bengal Immunity Co Ltd vs State of Bihar
and Firm and Illuri Subbaya Chetty  Sons
vs The State of Andhra Pradesh  referred to
f The instant case does not fall within the proposi tions in Dhulabhai s case because section 843 not merely gives finality to the orders passed by the special tribunal but expressly provides that such orders shall not be questioned in any other manner or by any other authority than is pro vided in the Act
194 B g In the instant case the plaintiffs availed them selves of the remedies provided under the Act and
succeeded to art extent
Having exhausted their remedies under the Act and having been benefited by the appellate decision they turned to the civil court to claim refund
This is impermissible under section 843
194 F G