The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by the Khan Market Welfare Association seeking directions to the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to adopt a uniform methodology for determining property tax across its jurisdiction. The NDMC governs several prominent commercial and residential areas of Lutyens’ Delhi, including Khan Market, Connaught Place and Chanakyapuri.
A Division Bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Shail Jain held that courts cannot, while exercising writ jurisdiction, prescribe or replace the methodology to be followed by a statutory authority for determining the rateable value of properties.
The Court explained that judicial review concerns the legality of the exercise of statutory power, and does not permit the Court to assume the role assigned by law to the competent authority. The Bench observed that the Court cannot use a writ of mandamus to replace the competent statutory authority’s formulation with its own.
The Court also rejected the association’s request for constitution of an expert committee to investigate alleged fraud, irregularities and discrepancies in the determination of rateable values across NDMC areas.
It held that creating such a committee would require the Court to establish an administrative mechanism, determine its composition and define its functions, despite no statutory basis having been demonstrated for such an arrangement.
The petition sought directions to the NDMC to follow a uniform valuation methodology until the formal implementation of the Unit Area Method (UAM). The association had also sought an investigation into alleged irregularities and directions for strict compliance with provisions of the NDMC Act.
The association argued that NDMC was relying on different factors, including the UAM, actual rent, comparable rent and historical values, while determining rateable values for similarly situated properties in areas such as Khan Market and Connaught Place. This, it contended, resulted in significant disparities in property tax liability.
The NDMC disputed the contention, submitting that Section 63(1) of the NDMC Act doesnot prescribe a rigid formula for determining rateable value. According to the civic body, actual, comparable and hypothetical rent are evidentiary tools used to determine the reasonably expected rent of a property, which may vary depending on its use and occupation.
The High Court found that the association had failed to identify any specific statutory duty that NDMC had neglected to perform. The Bench also raised concerns regarding the maintainability of the petition, observing that the alleged prejudice appeared to relate to individual property owners and assesses. The association could not, the Court held, aggregate the individual grievances of its members and seek a common writ of mandamus. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the petition, declining to interfere with NDMC’s statutory framework for determining property valuations.
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