Pune Municipal Corporation wins Rs1.27-cr property tax case in HC

The Bombay high court on Wednesday ordered a cellphone tower company, 21st Century InfraTele Ltd, to pay Rs1.27 crore to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) as property tax for its cellphone towers in the city.

The case relates to the erection of 50 towers by the firm in PMC limits for different cellphone companies.

The PMC’s legal advisor, Manjusha Idhate, said a bench comprising justices DK Deshmukh and RG Ketkar passed the order on the petition filed by the company against the order of the PMC.

Advocate Abhijeet Kulkarni, who represented the PMC in the court, told DNA the civic body had sent a tax demand order of Rs1.27 crore for the cellphone towers of the company in the city.

Moreover, the PMC had imposed a penalty of Rs96.64 lakh for unauthorised construction
of the towers.

He said the company had challenged the PMC order in the high court. On Wednesday, the court passed an order in favour of the civic body.

He said the court asked the company to pay the tax within two weeks. As the company has paid Rs48 lakh already, it would be required to pay the remaining amount in the stipulated period.

He said the court also ordered the company to submit a bank guarantee of Rs96 lakh within four weeks.

The PMC is to conduct a hearing within eight weeks on the proposal of the company to decide whether it should be given deemed permission benefit. It would take a decision on the penalty after the hearing.