Patna: The Patna high court on Monday sought replies from the state govt and Patna Municipal Corporation on a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of specific provisions of the Bihar Municipal Property (Assessment, Collection and Recovery) Rules, 2013.The petition alleges that the provisions impose arbitrary and unjust property tax on residential and commercial buildings in urban centres of Bihar.A division bench comprising chief justice V Kameswar Rao and justice Partha Sarathi passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Vinay Kumar.Vinay’s counsel Dinu Kumar submitted that the rules for assessment and collection of municipal property tax did not provide a transparent and fair mechanism for property tax assessment.The judges also sought a reply from Patna Municipal Corporation on the alleged arbitrary mode of property tax collection in the capital.The matter will be heard again on Nov 23.
