Appeals Nos
188 to 191 of 1956
72 Appeals from that judgment and decree dated April 13 1955 of the former Nagpur High Court in Civil Suits Nos 3 4 9 and 10 of 1955 Original Nos
MCC 194 195 200 and 202 of 1954
M C Setalvad Attorney General for India
A V Viswanatha Sastri J V Jakatdar and I N 
Shroff for the appellant in C A No 188 of 56
H N Sanyal Additional Solicitor General of India and G C Mathur for the respondent in C A No 188 of 56
J V Jakatdar and 1
N Shroff for the appellants in C As
Nos 189 to 191 of 56
section T Desai and G C Mathur for the respondent in C A No 190 of 56
G C Mathur for the respondent in C As
Nos 189 and 191 of 56
February 7
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by AYYANGAR J
Section 1432 of the Government of India Act 1935 enacted
432
Any taxes duties cesses or fees which immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act were being lawfully levied by any Provincial Government municipality or other local authority or body for the purposes of the Province municipality district or other local area under a law in force on the first day of January nin eteen hundred and thirty five may notwithstanding that those taxes duties cesses or fees are mentioned in the Federal Legislative List continue to be levied and to be applied to the same purposes until provision to the contrary is made by the Federal Legislature
 The precise import significance and effect of the 73 words continue to be levied and to be applied to the same purposes until provision to the contrary is made by the Federal Legislature is the common question which arises in these four appeals which come before us by virtue of certificates under article 132 of the Constitution granted by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Nagpur
Section 51 of the Central Provinces and Berar Local Self Government Act 1920 enacted  51
1 Subject to the provisions of any law or enactment for the time being in force a District Council may by a resolution passed by a majority of not less than two thirds of the members present at a special meeting convened for the purpose impose any tax toll or rate other than those specified in sections 24 48 49 and 50
2         3        
By virtue of the power thus conferred the District Council of Bhandara which was a local authority constituted under this Act of 1920 imposed a tax on the export of bidis and bidi leaves by rail out of the Bhandara district by a resolution dated May 14 1925 as amended by another dated April 18 1926
The tax was at the rate of 4 annas per maund on bidis and 2 annas per maund on bidi leaves
The Local Government framed rules for the collection of the tax under section 79 of the Act of 1920 and the said tax was being collected by this local authority on April 1 1937 when Part III of the Government of India Act came into force
It is now common ground that the tax thus levied and collected was a terminal tax on goods carried by railway covered by entry 58 in the Federal Legislative List List I in the Seventh Schedule to the Government of India Act of 1935
The result of this tax being in the Federal Legislative List it is manifest is that the Provincial Legislature 74 could not thereafter freshly impose such a tax under its legislative power
By reason of the provision however of section 143 2 of the Government of India Act 1935 extracted earlier the local authority continued to retain the authority to levy and collect the said tax and the tax continued to be collected by the District Council even after April 1 1937 when Part III of the Government of India Act came into force
While so the Central Provinces and Berar Local Self Government Act 1920 was repealed and was replaced by the Central Provinces and Berar Local Government Act 1948 which came into force on June 11 1948
District Councils which were the units of local government administration under the Act of 1920 were replaced by Janpads which comprised smaller areas and as a result the area which was under the jurisdiction of the District Council of Bhandara under the Local Self Government Act of 1920 came to be constituted into three Janpads viz those of Gondia Bhandara and Sakoli these being the three Tahsils comprised in the district and the three Janpads were administered by three Janpad Sabhas formed under the Act of 1948
There were provisions in the later enactment providing for continuity in the powers to be exercised by the District Councils whom the former replaced
But what is of relevance to the points arising in the present appeals are those contained in a 192 of the Act of 1948 which as originally enacted ran On and from date on which this Act comes into force the Central Provinces and Berar Local Self Government Act 1920 shall be repealed  Provided that a all local authorities constituted under the said Act shall continue to function there under for such time till the constitution of 75 the Sabhas as the Provincial Government may by notification specify b all rules and bye laws made all noti fications published all orders issued and all licences and permissions granted under the said Act and in force immediately be fore the commencement of this Act shall so far as they are consistent with this Act be deemed to have been respectively made published issued and granted thereunder c all rates taxes and cesses due to the district Council or Local Board shall be deem ed to be due to the Sabha to whose area they pertain and d all references made in any Act of the Provincial Legislature to the said Act shall be read as if made to this Act or to the corresponding provision thereof
 Pausing here two matters which figured largely in the arguments require to be noticed in the provisions of this section
The first is that there was an express repeal of the Local Self Government Act of 1920 effected by the main part of the section
The second is that the repeal was not absolute and unconditional but was modified by a saving which continued the operation of certain of the provisions of the repealed Act
But the terms in which the right to collect the rates taxes and cesges was continued in favour of the Janpad Sabhas which replaced the District Councils under cl
c was capable of being construed as not enabling the future imposition of the rate cess etc by the Janpad sabhas
The scope and meaning of this clause which is one of the principal matters to be considered in these appeals we shall reserve for later consideration but at this stage it might be mentioned that the clause is certainly capable of being understood as transferring to the Sabhas only 76 the right to collect the rates taxes or cesses which had accrued due to the District Councils which had remained unpaid on the date when by virtue of the first part of 192 the Act of 1920 stood repealed and the District Councils ceased to exist
If this were the proper meaning of this clause it is obvious that the Janpad Sabhas could no longer levy the terminal tax oil bidis and bidi leaves where the export was effected on or after June 11 1948 on which date by virtue of the Act of 1948 coming into force the earlier Act of 1920 stood repealed
The Janpad Sabhas were however continuing the levy and the Provinoial Legislature sought to put the matter beyond doubt by an amending Act of 1949 by which cl
b of the proviso to section 192 was replaced by a new clause reading All rules and bye laws and orders made notifications and notices issued licences and permits granted taxes imposed or assessed ceases other than additional cesses imposed in accordance with section 49 of the said Act fees tolls or rates levied contracts entered into and suits instituted and proceedings taken under the said Act and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue to be in force and in so far as they are not inconsistent with this Act they shall be deemed to have been respectively made issued granted imposed or assessed levied entered into instituted and taken under this Act until new provisions are made tinder the appropriate provisions of this Act and by section 39 of the Amending Act this amendment was given retrospective effect from the commencement of the Local Government Act of 1948
It was not in dispute that if the terms of el
b as amended by the Act of 1949 had found a place in the Local Government Act of 1948 when originally enacted
the levy of this tax by the Janpad Sabhas would 77 have been valid
It is only necessary to add that if this tax had been lawfully levied by the Janpad Sabhas immediately before January 26 1950 they could continue to be levied after Constitution came into force nothwithstanding the repeal of the Government of India Act by the Constitution and notwithstanding terminal taxes being a tax solely leviable by the Union List in Sch
VII by reason of the provision contained in article 277 of the Constitution reading 277
Any taxes
duties ceases or fees which immediately before the commencement of this Constitution were being lawfully levied by the Government of any State or by any municipality or other local authority or body for the purposes of the State municipality district or other local area may notwith standing that those taxes duties ceases or fees are mentioned in the Union List continue to be levied and to be applied to the same purposes until provision to the contrary is made by Parliament by law
 It would thus be seen that in order to sustain the claim of the respective Janpad Sabhas who are the respondents in these four appeals to continue to lawfully levy the terminal tax it should be established either that cl c to the proviso to a 192 enabled them to do so or that the amendment effected to proviso b to a 192 of the Act of 1948 was validly enacted
Before considering this question it would be of advantage if we set out the facts of the cases under appeal
It is sufficient to refer to the facts in Civil Appeal 188 of 1956 because except for the identity of the appellants and the amounts involved the matter in controversy is exactly similar Rama Krishna Ramanath appellant in Civil Appeal 188 is a proprietary concern carrying on business alia in manufacturing and selling bidis
In the 78 course of that business they export bidis to various places outside the territorial limits of the Janpad Sabha Gondia
The Janpad Sabha Gondia demanded and collected taxes when the export took place from railway stations within its territorial jurisdiction
Between January 26 1950 and June 30 1952 the respondent Sabha had collected tax totaling Rs 3818153 the appellant concern contending that from the date of the coming into force of the Constitution the imposition and collection of the terminal tax by the respondent Sabha was illegal because the right to levy terminal taxes was vested exclusively in the government of the Union under entry 89 in the First List to the 7th Schedule to the Constitution and sought the refund of this sum of tax from the respondent Sabha and also required that it should desist from continuing the imposition and levy of this tax and when the request was not needed served notice on the Sabha
In consequence of this notice though the Sabha discontinued the collection of the tax it refused to refund the tax already collected
Thereupon the appellant instituted a civil suit inthe court of the Civil Judge at Gondia praying for a decree for the sum of Rs 3818153 and costs
The suit was resisted and thereafter this alongwithseveral similar suits including three by the appellants in the other three appeals were all withdrawn to the High Court under article 228 of the Constitution for deciding the substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution and of the Government of India Act as to whether the levy of the tax by the respondent Sabha was lawful or not These suits were consolidated and were disposed of by a common judgment dated April 13 1955 by which all the suits were dismissed but a certificate was granted under article 132 of the Constitution
On the strength of the certificate four of the aggrieved plaintiffs filed appeals to the Courts and that is how the matter is before us
79 Before considering the submissions made to us by the learned Attorney General for the appellant it would be convenient to state the exact factual position relating to the levy of the impugned tax  1The tax being one on goods exported out of the local area by rail would answer the description of a terminal tax falling within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Central Legislature under the Government of India
Act 1935
The position has continued to be the same under the distribution of legislative power in relation to taxes under the Constitution
The result would therefore be that but for the saving contained in section 1432 of the Government of India Act 1935 it would not have been legally competent for the local authority to continue to levy the tax after the Government of India Act came into force  similarly but for article 277 that levy could not have been continued beyond January 26 1950
On the facts stated earlier it would be seen that the right of the local authority to levy the tax would be ultimately dependent on the same being authorised by section 1492 of the Government of India Act
2The tax that was sought to be levied by the respondent Sabhas and which was challenged as unauthorised and illegal was identical in the incidence as the tax which the District Council of Bhandara lawfully levied just prior to the commencement of Part III of the Government of India Act 1935
By incidence we mean the subjectmatter of the tax the taxable event as well as the rate of the duty
In other words the tax now sought to be levied and that which was lawfully imposed and collected prior to April 1 1937 were exactly identical in their effect and operation
Similarly there was no controversy as regards either the identity of the area in aid of whose local administration the tax as now sought to be collected nor as regards the purposes for which they 80 were utilised as compared with what prevailed on April 1 1937
The principle contention however raised on behalf of the appellant before the High Court was based upon a denial of the identity of the authorities three Janpad Sabhas with the District Council Bhandars which levied and collected the tax prior to April 1 1937
The learned Judges of the High Court rejected this contention and held that the three Janpad Sabhas which replaced the District Council of Bhandara were in substance identical with the latter principally for the reason that the area covered by the three newly created Janpads was the same as that for which the District Council functioned and that the purposes for which the tax collected would be utilized which are the criteria specified in section 1432 were exactly the same Just as it could not be disputed that if there were any change in the composition of the District Council the identity of a local authority would not be altered for the purposes of section 1432 the mere splitting up of that local area for being administered by a plurality of Local Government Units would not effect any change material for the purposes of the continued exigibility of the tax under section 1432
The learned Attorney General therefore very properly did not press before us this point based upon the disappearance of the District Council and its being replaced by the respondent Sabhas as any ground for denying to the respondent Sabhas the right to levy the tax
The only point that was urged before us in challenge of the right of the respondent Sabhas to continue the levy of this terminal tax may be formulated thus The Provincial Legislature of Central Provinces  Berar in exercise of its legislative power under item 13 of the Provincial Legis lative List enacted the Local Government Act 81 1948 and validly repealed the Act of 1920 under which this tax was levied
As part of the same legislation and taking effect at the same time it was open to that Legislature to have continued the provisions of the repealed Act of 1920 under which the impugned tax was levied so as to enable the newly created Janpad Sabhas to exercise the fiscal powers of the District Councils which they replaced thus so to speak modifying or qualifying the repeal
Such a continuance could be provided by a saving clause couched in appropriate phraseology to effectuate such an intention
If this had been done the source of legal authority to levy the tax would even after the Act of 1948 came into force have been the repealed Act of 1920 which to the extent of the saving would be deemed to have continued in force
But this was not done
There was no doubt a saving under the proviso to section 192 but the saving in respect of the taxes which was contained in sub clc to the proviso was confined to the recovery of taxes which had accrued due on the date of the repeal but which still remained uncollected and the purpose of the sub clause was to effect a distribution of those assets viz of the accrued arrears among the several Janpad Sabhas which replaced each District Council so that when on June II 1948 the Act of 1948 came into force the effect of it was that the repeal of the Act of 1920 was for all purposes relevant to the matter now in controversy complete and with it the power to levy the tax in future stood
extinguished save only as regards the right to collect the arrears which had accrued due to the District Councils before that date
No doubt the Provincial Legislature effected an amendment to section 192 in 1949 by which the saving was extended to include the right of the Janpad Sabhas to continue to levy the impugned tax and this amendment was given retrospective effect as from Tune 11 1948 but 82 this amendment was beyond the legislative com
petence of the Provincial Lagislature since in pith and substance it was virtually a legislation expressly conferring upon the Janpad Sabhas the right to levy a terminal tax a right which they did not possess before that date and unless the Legis lature was competent to enact a law in relation to such a tax it could not validly confer upon the local authority what in legal effect should be considered to be a fresh right to levy the tax
The argument was also presented in a slightly different form by saying that on the terms of section 1432 of the Government of India Act there was a provision only for the continuance of the tax and that when once that continuity was broken by a valid piece  of legislation such as took place in this case when the Local Self Government Act 1920 wes repealed without a properly drafted saving clause enabling the continued levy of the tax the discontinuity created thereby could not thereafter be repaired and the gal filled by further legislation even though it purported to be with restrospective effect
Mr Sanyal learned Additional Solicitor General who appeared for the respondent Sabhas submitted several answers to sustain the validity of the continued imposition of the tax He first urged that the effect of section 143 2 of the Government of India Act 1935 was in effect to vest in Provincial Legislatures a plenary power to legislate in respect of every tax which was being lawfully levied by local authorities etc
in the Province prior to the commencement of Part III of the Government of India Act so much so that even if the amendment efrected to section 192 by the Local Government Amendment Act of 1949 be treated as itself a fresh imposition of the tax its validity could not bechallenged
We must express our inability toaccept this extreme contention
Section 143 2 which is a saving clause and 83 obviously designed to prevent a dislocation of the finances of Local Governments and of local authorities by reason of the coming into force of the provisions of the Government of India Act distributing heads of taxation on lines different from  those which prevailed before that date cannot be construed as one conferring a plenary power to legislate on those topics till such time as the Central Legislature intervened
Such a construction would necessarily involve a power in the Provincial Legislature to enhance the rates of taxation a result we must say from which Mr Sanyal did not shrink but having regard to the language of the section providing for a mere continuity and its manifest purpose this construction must be rejected
The next point urged by Mr Sanyal was based on the construction which he aought to put on clc of the proviso to section 192 of the Local Government Act of 1948
He submitted that the words due to the District Council were wide and apt enough to include not merely the taxes that had accrued due on the date of the repeal of the Act of 1920 but even the amounts which accrued later and became payable subsequent to that date Due he said meant payable and as the words of the sub section did not specifically limit the period when the cess became payable to some time anterior to the repeal of the Act of 1920
it ought to be read as including those amounts which accrued due and became payable even thereafter
We find it difficult to accept this submission either
The difficulty in accepting it is created only in part by the use of the expression due but the main hurdle in the way of the respondent is that what is saved by the sub clause and is distributed among the Janpad Sabbas which replaced the District Councils is specified as a cess  rate etc
due to a District Council
The rate cess or duty due to a District Council could obviously be only that which 84 had accured due to a District Council while that body was in existence and with the extinction of the District Councils by the repeal of the Act of 1920 there could be no question of any further sums being due to such a body
Mr San _Val however sought to get over this situation by suggesting that the words due to a District Council were merely descriptive of the nature of the tax and did not pre dicate that it was an amount due to a particular body on the date when it became due
In our opinion this is not an interpretation which the words could reasonably bear and we have therefore no hesitation in rejecting this argument
It was then submitted that even if the words of cl
c of the proviso would not ordinarily include a saving as regards the right of the Janpad Sabhas to levy the tax in the future still we should adopt that construction as being in consonance with and for giving effect to the intention of the legislature which made it clear that that was so by enacting the amendment to section 192 by the Act of 1949 within a year or so after the Act of 1948
We consider that this submission also deserves in the circumstances of the present case to be rejected
It is a cardinal principle of statutory construction that the intention of the legislature should be gathered from the words of the enactment
If as we have held those words are incapable of the construction that there was a savig of the right of the Janpad Sabbas to impose and collect the tax apart from the right to collect the arrears of tax which accured due while the District Council was in existencethat construction cannot be modified and the legislative intent with which that proviso was enacted supplemented by a reference to what the legislature did later
No doubt there is authority for the position that when the meaning of the words used in an enactment is ambiguos or obscure subsequent statutes might sometimes be used as what has been termed a parliamentary exposition of the obscure phraseology
It is hardly 85 necessary to discuss the permissible limits of this node of construction for the purpose of the present lase because the prime conditions for invoking that rule are absent here there is no obscurity or ambiguity in the words of el
c and secondly if the learned Attorney General is right the Provincial Legislature had no legislative capacity to enact the Amending Act of 1949 and this must include legislation either by way of explanation or exposition and of course by positive enactment
If there is incapacity to enact retrospective legislation on the matter the position is not rendered different by viewing it as parliamentary exposition
The validity of the amendment effected by the Act of 1949 must be judged independently and on its own inerits and its terms cannot be used as a guide to the interpretation of what the legislature in enacting section 192 of the Act 1948 intended by the words in cl
The next submission was that as the Act of 1949 amended the terms of section 192 so as to save the power of the Janpad Sabhas to levy the cess with retrospective effect from the date when the Act of 1920 stood repealed there was in the eye of the law a continuity in the levy of the cese or rate and so no hiatus or period of discontinuity existed such as had been suggested by the learned Attorney General and the existence of which was the entire foundation of his argument
It must however be mentioned that the learned Attorney General was not oblivious of this feature of the legislation of 1949 viz that it purported to operate as it were to close the gap but his submission was that if in fact the gap existed and there was factually a period of discontinaity the legislature which had no authority to enact positive legislation with reference to the topic in May 1949 was incompetent to pass an enactment with retrospective effect
In our opinion this argument of Mr Sanyal requires serious consideration and the answer would 86 turn on the proper construction of the terms of section 1432 of the Government of India Act
The first matter to be considered would be the source of the legislative power to enact the Local Government Act of 1948
In so far as the constitution of local authorities their territorial distribution the endowing them with powers jurisdiction and authority in general are concerned the legislative power therefore is to be found in entry 13 of the Provincial Legislative List II to Sch
VII of the Government of India Act 1935 reading  Local Government that is to say the constitution and powers of municipal corpora tions improvement trusts district boards mining settlement authorities and other local authorities for the purpose of local self government on village administration
It must however be observed that merely because the legislature is empowered under this entry to constitute local authorities and vest them with powers and jurisdiction it would not follow that these local bodies could be vested with authority to levy any and every tax for the purpose of raising revenue for the purposes of local administration
They could be validly authorised to raise only those taxes which the Province could raise under and by virtue of the relevant entries in the Provincial Legislative List
This is on the principle that the Province could not authorise local bodies created by it to impose taxes which it itself could not directly levy for the purposes of the Provincial Government
Now comes the question whether the Provincial Legislature was competent by legislation to discontinue the levy of the tax by effecting a repeal of the taxing provision contained in the Local Self Government Act of 1920
There is no doubt that the general principle is that the power of a legislative body to repeal a law is co extensive with its power to enact each a law as would be seen from 87 the following passage in
the judgment by Lord Watson in Attorney General for Ontario vs Attorney General for the Dominion1  Neither the Parliament of Canada nor the provincial legislatures have authority to repeal statutes Which they could not directly enact But obviously its application in particular instances would be controlled by express constitutional provision modifying the same
We have such provision in the case on hand in section 1432 of the Government of India Act 1935
In the context the relevant words of the sub section could only mean May continue to be levied if so desired by the Provincial Legislature which is indicated by or is implicit in the use of the expression May in the clause may be continued until provision to the contrary is made by the Federal Legislature
 This would therefore posit a limited legislative power in the Province to indicate or express a desire to continue or not to continue the levy
If in the exercise of this limited power the Province desires to discontinue the tax and effects a repeal of the relevant statute the repeal would be effective
Of course in the absence of legislation indicating a define to discontinue the tax the effect of the provision of the Constitution would be to enable the continuance of the Dower to levy the tax but this does not alter the fact that the provision by its implication confers a limited legislative power to desire or not to desire the continuance of the levy subject to the overriding power of the Central Legislature to put an end to its continuance and it is on the basis of the existence of this limited legislative power that the right of the Provincial Legislature to repeal the taxation provision under the Act of 1920 could be rested
Suppose for instance a Provincial Legislature desires the continuance of the tax but considers the rate too High and 11896 A C 348 366
88 wishes it to be reduced and passes an enactment for that purpose it cannot be that the legislation is incompetent and that the State Government must permit the local authority to levy tax at the same rate as prevailed on April 1 1937 if the latter desired the continuance of the tax
If such a legislation were enacted to achieve a reduction of the rate of the duty its legislative competence must obviously be traceable to the power contained in words may continue to be levied in section 1432 of the Government of India Act
If we are right so far it would follow that in the exercise of this limited legislative power the Provincial Legislature would also have a right to legislate for the continuance of the tax provided if of course the other conditions of section 1432 are satisfied viz 1 that the tax was one which was lawfully levied by a local authority for the purposes of a local area at the commencement of Part III of the Government of India Act
2 that the identity of the body that collects the tax the area for whose benefit the tax is to be utilised and the purposes for which the utilisation is to take place continue to be the same and 3 the rate of the tax is not enhanced nor its incidence in any manner altered so that it continues to be same tax
If as we have hold earlier there is a limited legislative power in the Province to enact a law with reference to the tax levy so as to continue it the validity of the Act of 1949 which manifested the legislative intent to Continue the tax without any break the legal continuity being established by the retrospective operation of the provision has to be upheld
The appeals therefore fail and are dismissed with costs one set of hearing fees
Appeals dismissed


Summary:
Under the C P and Berar Local Self Government Act 1920 the District Council of Bhandara
in 1925 imposed a terminal tax on the export of bidis and bidi leaves by rail out of Bhandara district
By the Government of India Act 1935 terminal tax was included in the Federal Legislative List but section 143 2 of the Act provided that such a tax which was being lawfully levied under a law in force on January 1 1935 may continue to be levied until provision to the contrary was made by the Federal Legislature
The District Council continued to leavy and collect the tax
In 1948 the C P and Berar Local Government Act 1948 came into force which repealed the 1920 Act
It replaced the District Council Bhandara with three janapada Sabhas
Clause c of the proviso to the saving section section 192 provided that all rates taxes and cesses due to the District Council shall be deemed to be due to the Sabha to whose area they pertained 71 By an amending Act of 1949 the Provincial Legislature replaced cl
b of the proviso to section 192 by a new cl
b which inter alia continued in force all taxes which were in force immediately before the commencement of the 1948 Act this amendment was given retrospective effect from the commencement of 1948 Act
The appellant contended that the 1948 Act which repealed the 1926 Act did not save the terminal tax and once the tax was discontinued the Provincial Legislature had no power left to impose it afresh and that the amendment was accordingly beyond its legislative competence_
The respondent contended that section 143 2 of the Government of India Act 1935
vested in the Provincial Legislature plenary power to legislate in respect of every tax which was being lawfully levied in the province that cl
c of the proviso to section 192 of the 1948 Act saved the tax and that the amendment was validly made and it saved the tax with retrospective effect from the date of the repeal of the 1920 Act
Held that the terminal tax was validly continued by the retrospective amendment of cl
b to the proviso of section 192 of 1948 Act
Section 143 2 of the Government of India Act 1935 did not confer upon the Provincial Legislature any plenary power of legislation in respect of taxes which were being validly imposed
But it did confer upon the Provincial Legislature a limited legislative power to enact a law with reference to the tax levy so as to continue it
The power of the Provincial Legislature to repeal the 1920 Act which imposed the tax was co extensive with its power to enact such a law
In exercise of this limited legislative power the Provincial Legislature was competent to enact the Amending Act of 1949
Attorney General for Ontario vs Attorney General for the Dominion  referred to
Clause c of the proviso to section 192 of the 1948 Act did not save the future imposition of the tax it merely provided for the collection of taxes already accrued in favour of the District Councils by the successor Sabhas
The words in this clause due to the District Council referred only to taxes which had accrued on the date of the repeal of the 1920 Act and did not include taxes which accrued later and became payable subsequent to that date
The subsequent amendment of 1949 could not be take a into account in construing cl
c and for determining the intention of the legislature