The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) prima facie cannot ask property owners to deposit 50% of the re-assessed property tax amount for considering their objections raised for the showcause notices demanding payment of tax as per re-assessement, said the High Court of Karnataka.
Also, the court directed the Chief Commissioner of the BBMP to take appropriate steps in this regard while pointing out that the court has come across several petitions complaining about the demand for depositing 50% of the re-assessed tax amount as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), issued by the Commissioner, even though Section 144(15) of the BBMP Act does not contemplate depositing 50% of tax for considering objections on re-assessment.
Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav passed the interim order on a petition filed by M/s Gopalan Enterprises, questioning the legality of the demand for payment of the difference amount of ₹29.54 crore as property tax for Gopalan Mall, made by the BBMP in October, 2023 and on January 22, 2024, for the period from 2008-09 to 2023-23 after re-assessing the property without issuing notice to the petitioner.
