1 2026:CGHC:17634 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 2065 of 2021 1 - Smt. Durga Devi Samiti (A Registered Educational Society) Registered Under The Chhattisgarh Societies Registration Act 1973 Bearing Registration No. Division Raipur / 1303, Dated 05-07-2002 Having Its Registered Office At R/o Sardarilal Gupta, Near Employment Exchange Office, Pandari Raipur Chhattisgarh), Through Its Chairman Rajeev Gupta. ... Petitioner versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Department Of Urban Administration And Development , Mantralaya , Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar Naya Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Chief Executive Officer Nagar Panchayat , Gariaband, District Gariaband Chhattisgarh., District : Gariyabandh, Chhattisgarh 3 - The Tax Collector Nagar Panchayat , Gariaband , District Gariaband Chhattisgarh., District : Gariyabandh, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner : Mr. Ashish Shrivastava assisted by Ms. Ananya Pandey, Advocate For Respondent No. 1 & 3 : Mr. Narayan Prashad, PL For Respondent No. 2 : Mr. Alok Bakshi, Advocate Hon'ble Shri Justice Sachin Singh Rajput Order On Board 17.04.2026 1. The petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking for the following relief(s); “10.1 It is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call for the entire records pertaining to case of the petitioner firm from the possession of the respondents, for its kind perusal. HIFZURRAHMAN ANSARI Digitally signed by HIFZURRAHMAN ANSARI Date: 2026.04.21 17:10:13 +0530 2 10.2 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an appropriate writ quashing and setting aside the impugned Bill dated 06/03/2021 raised by the respondent No.2 & 3 with regard to payment of property tax under the provisions of CG Municipalities Act, 1961, in respect of the building owned, run and used by the petitioner society for Educational purposes, by declaring the same to be illegal and inoperative in law. 10.3 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an appropriate writ commanding the respondents forbearing them from levying any property tax to the petitioner society building which is used exclusively for educational purposes. 10.4 Any other relief/reliefs, which this Hon'ble Court may think fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, with cost of the petition, may also please be granted to the petitioner.” 2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner society is a duly registered educational society under the Chhattisgarh Societies Registration Act, 1973. It is engaged in imparting education and its building is situated within the municipal limits of the Municipal Council, Gariyaband, District Gariyaband (C.G.). The petitioner society is regularly paying all applicable taxes to the concerned authorities. It is further submitted that respondent Nos. 2 and 3 issued a bill dated 06.03.2021 which is impugned in the present writ petition, levying property tax on the petitioner’s building. The said building is used exclusively for educational purposes. By the impugned bill, the petitioner was directed to deposit the property tax within a period of 15 days, failing which appropriate proceedings were to be initiated under the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961 (for short, “the Act of 1961”). The petitioner society has also submitted its reply to the said demand. It is contended that the petitioner is a charitable institution registered under Section 12 A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and therefore, in view of the provisions contained in Section 127 A of the Act of 1961, it is exempted from payment of property tax. Learned counsel submits that this aspect has not been considered 3 by respondent No. 2 while issuing the impugned bill. Reliance is placed upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Government of Kerala & Another vs. Mother Superior Adoration Convent reported in (2021) 5 SCC 602, as well as the order passed by this Court in WPC No. 4849/2023 (Indu Technical Education Society through President M.S. Umak vs. State of Chhattisgarh & Others) dated 16.01.2024 and the judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Vanshidhar Memorial Charitable Samiti, Gwalior vs. Municipal Corporation reported in 2018 SCC OnLine MP 1133. Thus, it is prayed that the impugned demand be set aside. 3. Learned counsel for respondent No. 2 submits that the petitioner did not raise the aforesaid contention before the competent authority. He submits that since the petitioner’s building falls within the jurisdiction of the municipal authority, the property tax bill has been rightly issued in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1961. Therefore, the writ petition is liable to be dismissed. 4. Learned counsel for respondent Nos. 1 and 3 submits that the dispute essentially lies between the petitioner and respondent No. 2. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 6. From a perusal of the record, it appears that prior to issuance of the impugned bill (Annexure P/1), the issue regarding exemption claimed by the petitioner was not considered by respondent Nos. 2 and 3. A similar issue came up before this Court in Indu Technical Education Society (supra) wherein this Court, while disposing of the petition permitted the petitioner to submit a representation along with necessary documents to be decided in accordance with law. 4 7. In view of the above, this Court is not inclined at this stage to examine the merits of the claim regarding exemption from property tax. Instead, the writ petition is disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to submit a detailed representation to respondent Nos. 2 and 3 along with all relevant documents in support of its claim for exemption from property tax within a period of 45 days from today. Upon receipt of such representation, respondent No. 2 shall consider and decide the same in accordance with law within a further period of 60 days taking into account the grievances raised by the petitioner, the applicable statutory provisions, and the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the High Court. It is noted that while issuing notice on 15.06.2021, this Court had granted an interim stay on recovery pursuant to the impugned notice which has continued from time to time. Accordingly, the said interim protection shall remain in operation until a decision is taken on the petitioner’s representation. It is made clear that this Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. In the event the decision of respondent No. 2 is adverse to the petitioner, it shall be open to the petitioner to challenge the same in accordance with law. 8. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the writ petition stands disposed of. Sd/- (Sachin Singh Rajput) Judge H.Ansari