Ayyangar, J. - (1.)This appeal comes before us by virtue of a certificate of fitness granted by the High Court of Madras under Art. 133(1)(c) of the Constitution against its judgment dismissing a petition filed by the appellant under Art. 226 of the Constitution seeking a writ of prohibition against the Corporation of Madras challenging he constitutional validity of a notice requiring the appellant to pay profession tax.
(2.)The appellant held office as the last Governor-General of India. Under S. 3 of Central Act XXX of 1951 the appellant is entitled to a pension of Rs. 15,000/- per annum and has been drawing this sum residing in the city of Madras. The Corporation of Madras- the first respondent before us demanded profession tax from the appellant under S. 111(1) (b) of the City Municipal Act, 1919 hereinafter called the Act for the year 1958-1959 on the ground of the appellant's residence within the city for the period therein specified and his drawing the pension to which he was entitled. The appellant addressed a communication to the Corporation asserting that this demand was illegal as the Corporation was empowered by the relevant constitutional provisions merely to levy a tax "on a profession, trade, calling or employment" and that as he as a pensioner did not fall under any of these classes the said demand was illegal. The authorities of the Corporation, however, insisted on compliance with the demand on the ground that under the express terms of the Act persons in receipt of pensions were also liable to the tax. The appellant thereupon filed a writ petition for the relief already set out, and as the validity of the State Act was impugned impleaded the State of Madras also as a respondent.
(3.)It would be seen from the foregoing that the question for consideration is whether the 1st respondent Corporation is entitled to levy a tax on pensioners in respect of the pensions received by them. In order to appreciate the submissions made to us by learned Counsel for the appellant it would be necessary to set out the history of the legislation in relation to profession tax and the impugned tax and the impugned tax on persons in receipt of pensions applicable to the City of Madras because it is on a construction of these provisions that the learned Judges of the High Court have upheld the validity of the levy and dismissed the appellant's writ petition. For this purpose it is not necessary to travel to any period anterior to the enactment of the Madras City Municipal Act (Madras Act IV of 1919) which with certain amendments to be referred to presently is still in force. The Act received the assent of the Governor on March 26, 1919, of the Governor-General in June, 1919 and came into force on publication in the Gazette which was in the same month. Having been enacted while the powers of the Local Legislatures were governed by the Government of India Act, 1915, the constitutional validity of the legislation is not open to any challenge. Section 111(1) of this enactment ran:
"Every person not liable of the companies' tax, who within the city and for the period prescribed in S. 113, exercises a profession, art, trade or calling or holds an appointment, public or private bringing him within one or more of the classes of persons specified in the taxation rules in Schedule IV, shall pay by way of licence fee and in addition to any other licence fee that may be leviable under this Act a tax as determined under the said rules but in no case exceeding rupees five hundred in the half year and such tax may be described as the profession tax."
The Section had two explanations of which the second is material and this reads:
Explanation 2:

"A person in receipt of a pension paid from any source shall be deemed to be a person holding an appointment within the meaning of this section."