' FAIZ MUHAMMAD KHAN, J.-Mian Jamal Shah, resident of Nowshera is owner of a building situated 'on Eid Gab Road, Abbottabad, consisting of a ground floor and 13 rooms each on first and second floor. The said building was leased out to Mir Afzal, petitioner herein who is running therein a hotel by the name of Mount View Hotel. 11 rooms on the second floor out of this building have been leased out by the petitioner to the Medical Superintendent, District Headquarter Hospital, Abbottabad for accommodating therein doctors who are on house job. The remaining two rooms on second floor have also been leased out to other occupants for different purposes. The 13 rooms of the first floor are however, offered by the petitioner to the travellers who may like to occupy them. One room out of the building is, however, occupied by the Manager of the hotel and the other by permanent staff working in the Hotel. The ground floor of the building is used for messing purposes.
2, In pursuance of the provisions contained in section 12 of the West Pakistan Finance, Act, 1965, this hotel has been declared by the concerned authorities of the Excise and Taxation Department as liable to payment of tax thereunder and the total tax leviable on 50 lodging units, excluding 2 lodging units occupied by the Manager and the permanent staff of the hotel, has been assessed at Rs, 4,575 per annum. The petitioner herein, was, therefor, directed to deposit the tax, which order aggrieved him and against which he filed appeal before the Director Excise and Taxation, N.-W. F. P.
(respondent No, 2) who dismissed the same vide order dated 15-10-1984. Having no other remady available, the petitioner has filed this Constitutional petition challenging the orders of respondents 1 and 2 as being arbitrary, illegal and without lawful authority, thus of no legal consequence.
3. Mr. Muhammad Tariq Khan Tamil., Advocate appeared on behalf of the petitioner. He contended that since only 13 rooms on the first floor are available for accommodation of the travellers and since out of these 13 rooms one is permanently occupied by the staff of the hotel, and is not offered to the travellers, the hotel is not liable to pay tax, having less twenty-five lodging units, under sub- clause (ii) (b) of subsection (5) of section 12 of the said Act. He also contended that 11 rooms rented out to the Medical Superintendent, District Headquarter Hospital, Abbottabad, for the accommodation of house-job doctors shall also have to be excluded in view of the definition of the expression 'hotel' as contained in the Explanation to section 12 of the said Act.
4. We have considered the arguments of the learned counsel for the petitioner and find no force in them. 12 rooms out of 13 rooms on the first floor are admittedly offered by the petitioner for accommodating the travellers as and when they may be required. The record shows that each room consists of two lodging units. The 12 rooms so offered to the travellers would, therefore, consist of 24 lodging units. There are also 13 rooms on the second floor of the hotel out of which 11 rooms have been leased out to Medical Superintendent, District Headquarter Hospital, Abbottabad.
These rooms are occupied by doctors who have done their Graduation from Medical Colleges and are doing house-job in the hospital. They are neither to be called 'students' of Medical Institutions, nor `Government officials' having not been so employed, so as to fall within the exemption clause contained in the definition of the 'hotel' as contained in the Explanation to section 12 of the said Act.
Further, other two rooms on the second floor of the hotel have also been rented out and would not attract the provisions of the exemption clause aforesaid. The conclusion, therefore, is that this hotel has more than 25 lodging units and is, therefore, liable to taxation under the aforesaid provisions of law.
5. There being no merit in this writ petition, it is hereby dismissed in limine.