Summarize the following court judgment. Appeals Nos. 1052	 1054 to 1058	 1060 to 1087	 1089 to 1095	 1097	 1100 to 1112	 1114 to 1118	 1120 to 1129	 1131 and 1133 to 1145 of 1968. Appeals by special leave from the judgment and order	 dated July 7	 1966 of the Kerala High Court in Writ Appeals Nos. 35	 38 to 40	 43	 44	 46	 47	 57	 59 60 to 69	 71 to 77	 79 to 82	 84 to 86	 88	 89.92 to 95	 97	 99	 102	 184 to 186	 190 to 195	 202	 217	 218	 222 to 224	 226	 227	 231 to 240	 242	 245	247	 249 to 252	 257	 273	 274	 305 to 307	 and 312 of 1965 respectively and Civil Appeals Nos. 1146 and 1147 of 1968. Appeals by special leave from the judgment and order	 dated September 19	 1966 of the Kerala High Court in Writ Appeals Nos. 42 and 246 of 1965. B.R.L. lyengar and 	A. G. Pudissery	 for the appellant (in all the appeals). Sardar Bahadur	 Vishnu Bahadur and yougindra Khushalani	 for the respondent (in C.As. 1080 and 1137 of 1968). H.R. Gokhale and J. B. Dadachanji	 for the respondent (in C.As. Nos. 1094 and 1144 of 1968). A.V.V. Nair	 for the respondents Nos. 2 and 3 (in C.As. 1053	 1112 and 1139 of 1968). Lily Thomas	 for the respondent (in C.As. 1056	 1087 and 1128 of 1968) A. Sreedharan Nambiar	 for the respondent (in C.As. Nos; 1067	 1075	 1091 and 1136 of 1968). M.C. Chagla	 1. B. Dadachanji and Thomas Vallapally for intervener (in C.A. No. 1144 of 1968). 	 Shah	 J. This group of appeals arises out of an order passed by the High Court of Kerala holding that the Kerala Buildings Tax Act 19 of 1961 is ultra. vires the Legislature in that it infringes the equality clause of the Constitution. The State Kerala has appealed against the decision With special leave granted by this Court. 647 The material provisions of the Kerala Buildings Act	 1961	 may be briefly set out. The Act extends to the whole of the State of Kerala; section 1 (2)	 and shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from March 2	 1961; section 1(3). An "assessee" is defined by section 2(b) as meaning a person by whom building tax or any other sum of money is payable under the Act and includes every person in respect of whom any proceeding under the Act has been taken for the assessment of building tax payable by him. Section 2(d) defines "building" as meaning a house	 out house	 garage or any other structure or part thereof whether of masonry	 bricks	 wood	 metal	 or other material	 but does not include any portable shelter or any shed constructed principally of mud	 bamboos	 leaves	 grass or thatch or a latrine which is not attached to the main structure. "Floorage" is defined by section 2(e) as meaning the area included in the floor of a building	 and where a building has more than one floor of a building	 the aggregate area included in all the floors together. By section 3 buildings owned by the State Government	 the Central Government or any local authority and buildings used principally for religious	 charitable or educational purposes or as factories or workshops are exempt from payment of tax under the Act. By section 4 it is provided that there shall be a charge to tax in respect of every building the construction of which is completed on or after March 2	 1961	 and which has a floor area of one thousand square feet or more	 and that the building tax shall be payable by the owner of the building. The Schedule to the Act sets out the rates of building tax. Buildings having a total floor area of less than 1	000 sq. ft. are not liable to pay tax. The Act	 on a bare perusal	 discloses some singular provisions. The liability to tax in respect of buildings having total floor area between 1	000 to 2	000 sq. ft. varies between Rs. 100 to Rs. 200; for buildings with a floor area between 2	000 to 4	000 sq. ft. varies between Rs. 400 to Rs. 800; for buildings having total floor area between 4	000 to 8	000 sq. it varies between Rs. 1	200 to Rs. 2	400; for buildings	 with total floor area of 8	000 to 12	000 sq. it varies between Rs. 3	200 to Rs. 4	800; and in respect of buildings having total floor area exceeding 12	000 sq. a rate of 50 np. per sq. foot i.e.	 Rs. 6	000 or more per annum. For determining the quantum of tax the sole test is the area of the floor of the building. The Act applies to the entire State of Kerala	 and whether the building is situate in a large industrial town or in an insignificant village	 the rate of tax is determined by the floor area: it does not depend upon the purpose for which the building is used	 the nature of the structure	 the town and locality in which the building is situate	 the economic rent winch may be obtained from the building	 the cost of the building and other related circumstances which may appropriately be taken into 648 consideration in any rational system of taxation of building. Under the Seventh Schedule List H Entry 49	 the State Legislature has the power to legislate for levying taxes on lands and buildings. But that power cannot be used arbitrarily and in a manner inconsistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed to the people under the Constitution. No tax may be levied or collected under our constitutional set up except by authority of law: and the law must not only be within the legislative competence of the State	 but it must also not be inconsistent with any provision of the Constitution. It has been frequently said by this Court that the validity of a taxing Statute is open to question on the ground that it infringes fundamental rights. In K.T. Moopil Nair V. State of Kerala	(1) Sinha	 C.J.	 delivering the judgment of the majority observed at p. 89: "Article 265 imposes a limitation on the taxing power of the State in so far as it provides that the State shall not levy or collect a tax	 except by authority of law	 that is to say	 a tax cannot be levied or collected by a mere executive fiat. It has to be done by authority of law	 which must mean valid law. In order that the law may be valid	 the tax proposed to be levied must be within the legislative competence of the Legislature imposing a tax and authorising the collection thereof and	 secondly	 the tax must be subject to the conditions laid down in article 13 of the Constitution. One of such conditions envisaged by article 13(2) is that the Legislature shall not make an) ' law which takes away or abridges the equality clause in article 14	 which enjoins the State not to deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws of the country. It cannot be disputed that if the Act infringes the provisions of article 14 of the Constitution. it must be struck down as unconstitutional. : Similar observations were made in Khandige Sham Bhat V. Agricultural	 Income tax Officer. (2) The principles which have been expounded by this Court in determining whether there has been denial of equal protection of the laws are also well settled: see Shri Ram Krishna Dalmia V. Shri Justice S.R. Tendolkar and Ors.(3). It is true that in the application of the principles	 the Courts	 in view of the inherent complexity of fiscal legislation admit a larger discretion to the Legislature in the matter of classification	 so long as it adheres to the fundamental principles underlying the doctrine of equality. The power of the Legislature to classify is	 it is said	 of "wide (1) ; (2) ; (3) ; 649 range and flexibility" so that it can adjust its system of taxation in all proper and reasonable ways Khandige Sham Bhat V. Agricultural Income tax Officer(1). But in enacting the Kerala Building Tax Act	 no attempt at any rational classification is made by the Legislature. As already observed	 the Legislature has not taken into consideration in imposing tax the class to which a building belongs	 the nature of construction	 the purpose for which it is used	 its situation	 its capacity for profitable user and other relevant circumstances which have a beating on matters of taxation. They have adopted merely the floor area of the building as the basis of tax irrespective of all other considerations. Where objects	 persons or transactions essentially dissimilar are treated by the imposition of a uniform tax	 discrimination may result	 for	 in our view	 refusal to make a rational classification may itself in some cases operate as denial of equality. This Court in a recent judgment has decided that the levy of tax in exercise of the power under Entry 49 List II of the Seventh Schedule in respect of factory buildings in a municipal area based on floor area was illegal: New Manek Chowk Spinning and Weaving Mills Co. Ltd. V. Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad(2). The Court held in that case that the method of adopting a flat rate for a floor area for determining the annual value adopted by the Corporation of Ahmedabad in exercise of the powers conferred upon it by the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act 49 of 1949 was against the provisions of the Act and the Rules made thereunder as well as all recognized principles of valuation for the purpose of taxation. If levy of tax in a municipal district based on floor area in respect of a factory building violates article 14 of the Constitution when the tax is sought to be levied by the Municipal Corporation	 we see no reason to uphold the tax imposed under the impugned Act when the State	 in exercise of legislative authority conferred by Entry 49 List II Sch. VII	 imposes liability to tax buildings solely on floor area. The vice of the Act in the present case is more pronounced than it was in New Manek Chowk Spinning & Weaving Mills Case(2). In that case the Rules under which the tax was sought to be levied on the basis of floor area were restricted in their operation to factory buildings within the Corporation limits of Ahmedabad	 whereas Act 19 of 1961 which is challenged in the present case applies to the whole State of Kerala in respect of buildings completed on or after March 2	 1961	 whatever may be the nature or class of the building	 the use to which it is put	 materials used in its construction and the extent of profitable user to which the building may be put	 its cost and its economic rental. It is unnecessary in the circumstances to consider whether imposition of a tax only on buildings constructed (1) ; (2) [1967] 2 S.C.R. 679. 650 after March 2	 1961	 and exempting buildings completed before that date may not violate article 14 of the Constituiton. The High Court was	 in our judgment	 fight in holding that the charging section of the Act is violative of the equality clause of the Constitution. The appeals therefore fail and are dismissed with costs. Parties appearing in different groups of appeals through the same Advocate in tiffs Court will be entitled to one hearing fee. G.C. Appeals dismissed.

Under section 4 of the Kerala Buildings Tax Act	 1961	 buildings constructed after the coming into force of the Act and having a floor area of one thousand square feet or more were subjected to tax on a graduated scale. The tax was levied on the basis of floor area only and no classification was attempted. The High Court in writ petitions filed by the present respondents held the charge to be invalid because of violation of the equality clause of the Constitution. The State appealed. HELD: (i) The law bY which a tax is levied must not only be within the competence of the legislature concerned but it must also not be inconsistent with any provision of the Constitution. The validity of a taxing statute is open to question on the ground that it infringes the fundamental rights. [648 B C] K.T. Moopil Nair vs State of Kerala	 ; and Khandige Sham Bhat vs Agricultural Income tax Officer	 ; 	 relied on. (ii) In the application of the principles expounded by this Court for determining whether there has been denial of equal protection of the laws	 the Courts	 in view of the inherent complexity of fiscal legislation admit a larger discretion to the Legislature in the matter of classification	 so long as k adheres to the fundamental principles underlying the doctrine of equality. The power of the legislature to classify is of 'wide range and flexibility ' so that it can adjust its system of taxation in all proper and 'reasonable ways. [648 H] But when objects persons or transactions essentially dissimilar are treated by the imposition of a uniform tax	 discrimination may result	 for	 refusal to make a rational classification may itself in some cases result in denial of equality. [649 C] in enacting the Kerala Building Tax Act no attempt at any rational classification has been made by the Legislature. The Legislature has not taken into consideration in imposing tax the class to which a building belongs	 the nature of construction	 the purpose for which it is used	 its situation	 its capacity for profitable user and other relevant circumstances which have a bearing on matters of taxation. They have adopted merely the floor area of the building as the basis of tax irrespective of all other considerations. The High Court was therefore right in holding that the charging section of the Act was violative of the equality clause of the Constitution. [649 B] Shri Ram Krishna Dalmia vs Shri Justice S.R. Tendolker & Ors. ; 	 referred to. 646 New Manek Chowk Spinning & Weaving Mills Co. Ltd. V. Municipal Corporation o/the City of Ahmedabad; 	 	 applied. [Question whether imposition of a tax only on buildings constructed after the coming into force of the Act and the exempting building completed before that date would violate article 14 of the constitution left open.] [650 A]