SUNSHINE COTTON MILLS LTD., SHEIKUPURA vs ADMINISTRATOR, MUNICIPAL

' In this writ petition the order of the Government of the Punjab, issued vide Notification No, SOIV- LHR-3 (11)/74 (1), dated 17th August 1974, extending the limits of Sheikhupura Municipality is questioned. Although several matters have been raised In this writ petition, before me only two points have been agitated:

(a) That the impugned order has been passed for ulterior motives, namely to obtain revenues by imposing taxation on industrial units and not in the genuine exercise of the powers conferred upon the respondent, the aim being simply to increase the revenues and nothing else ; and

(b) the alleged extension of the Municipal limits by the Municipal Committee, Sheikhupura, has been serried out in pursuance of the provisions of sub-clause (55) of clause (I) of Article 3 of the Basic Democracies Order, 1959, whereas in law such an extension could only be carried out under the provisions of section 7 of the Municipal Administration Ordinance, 1960.

2. There is no force in either of these contentions.

3. So far as the first point is concerned, the stand-point of the respondents is that the limits of the Municipality were extended, keeping in view the needs and future development of the town. The last extension of the limits took place in 1945 and in order to prevent uncontrolled growth of the town, it was necessary to carry out the extension on some proper basis and that there were no ulterior motives in the mind of the Municipal A Committee while extending the limits and that the necessity of public at large was the main object. It is further submitted that the payment of the.

Octroi and other Taxes was just an incidental outcome of the extension. As there is no material on the record to rebut the above stand of the Municipal Committee, it must be accepted.

4. So far as the second point is concerned, the question raised thereunder has been considered in a Dacca case, entitled Amin lute Mills Ltd. v. The Chittagong Municipality (1). It was held that the provision of clause (55) of sub-Article (1) of Article 3 of the Basic Democracies Order, 1959, authorized the Government to convert a rural area into an urban area if the area to be so converted qualified to be an urban area. The above position was upheld by the Supreme Court (See 1969 SCMR 320), wherein it was observed as follows: "Section 7 of the Municipal Administration Ordinance empowers the Provincial Government to declare any urban area to be a Municipality and extend, curtail or otherwise alter limits thereof. Any rural area declared as an urban area under the Basic Democracies Order is, therefore, by virtue of the definition clause in section 3 (2) of the Municipal Administration Ordinance an urban area for the purposes of extending the limits of a Municipality under section 7.

' The second contention is, therefore, also without substance.

5. The result is that there is no force in this writ petition, which is dismissed in limine. in limine.

(1) PLD 1970 Dacca 338