Partly allowed¶39

Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Ors. v. Avijit De Bhowmick

Calcutta HC25 Feb 2025APOT/21/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Kolkata Municipal Corporation; certified copy of inspection book; Citizen's Charter 2021; general requirement nos. 1 and 3; serial no. 11; no outstanding certificate (NOC); Assessment-Collection Department; mutation certificate; eight assessees; premises no. 53/2A S.N. Banerjee Road Kolkata-700014; Assessee No. 110531801118; WPO 765 of 2024; WPO 611 of 2024; APOT 21 of 2025; IA GA 1 of 2025; impugned order modified; Debangsu Basak; Md. Shabbar Rashidi; 25 February 2025.

What did the court decide?

Impugned order modified to the extent that the certified copy of the inspection book is available to the writ petitioner only upon compliance with general requirement nos. 1 and 3 of the Citizen's Charter 2021; APOT 21 of 2025 and the connected application disposed of without any order as to costs. ¶39

Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Ors. Vs Avijit De Bhowmick — Calcutta HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶39

Issue for consideration

Whether an applicant (the writ petitioner) seeking a certified copy of the inspection book of the entirety of premises no. 53/2A, S.N. Banerjee Road, Kolkata-700014 (which has eight different assessees) is obliged to produce the documents laid down in the Citizen’s Charter 2021 in respect of the entirety of the immovable property, or only in respect of the assessment number allotted to the writ petitioner.

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Court's answer

The certified copy of the inspection book will be limited to the assessment number allotted to the individual person who seeks the certified copy of such inspection book.

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Ratio / Principle

An applicant requiring the certified copy of the inspection book in respect of other assessees must comply with general requirement nos. 1 and 3 of the Citizen’s Charter 2021, including producing a no outstanding certificate in respect of the other assessees.

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Key takeaways

The impugned order is modified to the extent noted: the writ petitioner is at liberty to apply for obtaining the certified copy of the inspection book only after complying with the requirement specified in general requirement nos. 1 and 3 of the Citizen’s Charter 2021.ratio¶38
Mutation certificate is issued by KMC Authorities on payment of prescribed fee; there is no dispute regarding its issuance to the writ petitioner on payment of requisite fees.obiter¶22

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Calcutta High Court (Original Side, appellate bench of Debangsu Basak and Md. Shabbar Rashidi, JJ.) disposed of APOT 21 of 2025 (with WPO 765 of 2024 and IA GA 1 of 2025), an appeal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation against the Single Judge's order dated January 15, 2025 in WPO 765 of 2024 and WPO 611 of 2024, which had allowed the writ petitioner a certified copy of the inspection book subject only to production of a current tax receipt for his own Assessee No. 110531801118. The issue was whether, for premises no. 53/2A, S.N. Banerjee Road, Kolkata-700014 having eight different assessees, the applicant must satisfy the Citizen's Charter 2021 (general requirement nos. 1 and 3, invoked through serial no. 11) for the entire premises or merely for his own assessment number. The Court held that a certified copy of the inspection book is limited to the assessment number allotted to the individual applicant; copies extending to other assessees require compliance with general requirement nos. 1 and 3, including no outstanding certificates for those assessees. The impugned order was modified accordingly; the appeal and connected application were disposed of without costs. Mutation certificate issuance on payment of prescribed fee was noted as undisputed.

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OD 10

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ORDER SHEET IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION ORIGINAL SIDE

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APOT 21 of 2025 with WPO 765 OF 2024 IA GA 1 OF 2025

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THE KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND ORS.

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Versus

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AVIJIT DE BHOWMICK & ORS.

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BEFORE:

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The Hon'ble JUSTICE DEBANGSU BASAK AND

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The Hon’ble JUSTICE MD. SHABBAR RASHIDI Date : 25^th February, 2025.

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Appearance : Ms.Piyali Sengupta, Adv. Ms. Manisha Nath, Adv. ……For K.M.C. Mr. Anindya Bose, Adv. …for the respondent

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The Court: Appeal is directed against the order dated January 15, 2025

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passed in two writ petitions being WPO 765 of 2024 and WPO 611 of 2024.

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By the impugned order, learned Single Judge directed that a certified copy of the inspection book for the relevant premises be made available to the writ petitioner subject to production of current tax receipt for Assessee No. 110531801118 and compliance with other formalities within two weeks from the date of such production.

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Learned advocate appearing for the appellant submits that the parties are governed by the Citizen’s Charter 2021 of the Assessment-Collection,

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Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). She draws the attention of the Court to serial no. 1 of the Citizen’s Charter 2021 and serial no. 11. She submits that writ petitioner seeks issuance of certified copy of the inspection book and mutation certificate in respect of premises no. 53/2A, S.N. Banerjee Road, Kolkata-700014 in its entirety. She submits that, serial no. 11 makes general requirement of serial nos. 1 and 3 applicable. She contends that, the writ petitioner is entitled to certified copy of the inspection book as also the mutation certificate upon the writ petitioner producing no outstanding certificate from the Assessment-Collection Department on completion of all periodic and inter assessment as applicable for already assessed properties.

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Learned advocate appearing for the appellant submits that, general requirement no. 3 includes the entirety of the premises for which the certified copy of the inspection book is sought for by a person. In the facts and circumstances of the present case, she submits that, there are eight different assessees in respect of premises no. 53/2A, S.N. Banerjee Road, Kolkata700014. The writ petitioner is required to submit no outstanding certificate in respect of eight assessees for certified copy of the inspection book of the entire premises. The writ petitioner seeks certified copy of the inspection book in respect of the entirety of the premises.

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Learned advocate for the writ petitioner submits that writ petitioner is the owner of the premises and is entitled to the certified copy of the inspection book for the entire premises. He submits that the writ petitioner produced no

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outstanding certificate in respect of the assessment number through which the writ petitioner is being assessed by the KMC Authorities. He submits that the writ petitioner cannot be fastened with the liabilities of the other assessees in respect of the same premises.

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Writ petitioner approached Kolkata Municipal Corporation Authorities for issuance of certified copy of inspection book and for mutation certificate.

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Mutation certificate is issued by KMC Authorities on payment of prescribed fee. There is no dispute with regard to the issuance of mutation certificate to the writ petitioner on payment of requisite fees. Writ petitioner is also ready and willing to pay such requisite fees to the Authorities.

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So far as the issuance of certified copy of the inspection book is concerned, the issue is whether the writ petitioner is obliged to produce the documents as laid down in the Citizen’s Charter 2021 in respect of the entirety of the immovable property or only the assessment number which is allotted to such writ petitioner for obtaining the certified copy of the inspection book of the entire premises or not.

¶24

There is a Citizen’s Charter 2021 governing the process through which the application for issuance of certified copy of the inspection book is made available to an applicant for the same, by the KMC Authorities.

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Relevant to the present case are general requirement nos. 1 and 3 which is as follows :

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“General requirement :

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Mobile No., E-Mail ID (if any) in specific column of A-42 Form/A 75 Form or in the application.

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…………..

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‘No Outstanding Certificate’ (NOC) from Assessment-Collection Department(on completion of all pending Periodic/Inter assessments, as applicable) for already assessed properties.”

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and serial no. 11 at page 56 is as follows :

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11	Issuance of various certified copies like inspection book, assessment register etc. (*depending on the document sought)	Ref:Sche dule of Rules & Charges	10 workin g days	Plain paper applicato n	1. 2. 3.	General requireme nts No.1 & 3(as applicable ) Copy of Payment for all current demands Applicatio n must contain Phone Number& E-mail ID (if any) which will be uploaded in KMC Portal	-DO-	-DO-	-DO_

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The provisions of the Citizen’s Charter noted above require an assessee applying the certified copy of inspection book to comply with general requirement nos. 1 and 3, that is to say, that such assessee is required to provide the details as prescribed in serial No.1 of the general requirement as also furnish no outstanding certificate in terms of serial no. 3 of general requirement.

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The certified copy of the inspection book obviously will be limited to the assessment number allotted to the individual person who seeks the certified copy of such inspection book. In the event such assessee requires certified copy

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of the inspection book in respect of other assessees, such applicant is required to comply with general requirement nos. 1 and 3, that is to say, that such applicant is required to produce no outstanding certificate, amongst others, in respect of the other assessees also.

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Issue raised in the appeal is answered accordingly.

¶38

In such circumstances, the impugned order is modified to the extent as noted above. The writ petitioner is at liberty to apply for obtaining certified copy of the inspection book after complying with the requirement specified in general requirement nos. 1 and 3 of the Citizen’s Charter 2021.

¶39

APOT 21 of 2025 and the connected application are disposed of without any order as to costs.

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(DEBANGSU BASAK, J.)

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(MD. SHABBAR RASHIDI, J.)

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TR/

Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Ors. v. Avijit De Bhowmick

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Ors. v. Avijit De Bhowmick

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

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