Allahabad High Court: In a writ petition concerning the issue of whether municipal bodies could impose property taxes on telecommunication towers in light of the enactment of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, a Division Bench of Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla, JJ., stayed the operation of the impugned notices and tax bills issued by the municipal authorities for levying property taxes on such towers. The stay was granted in line with the Court’s earlier order dated 05-03-2025.
The Court observed that the matter involved several significant legal questions, notably the extent to which regulations or rules framed under the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 could be applied following the enactment of the Telecommunications Act, 2023. The Court particularly referred to Section 14(3) and Section 52 of the 2023 Act, noting that these provisions, prima facie, supported the petitioner’s case and suggested that the central legislation would prevail in the event of a conflict with any State law or subordinate legislation made thereunder.
Analysis and Decision
The Court took note of its order dated 05-03-2025 in Indus Towers Ltd. v. Union of India1 , and expressed its inclination to grant relief in favour of the petitioner. However, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation had opposed the extension of similar relief in the present matter on the ground that the said order had failed to take into consideration the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation (Property Tax) (Second Amendment) Rules, 2013.
In response, the petitioner submitted that the said order had been passed after taking into account the provisions of central legislation, namely the Telecommunications Act, 2023. The petitioner specifically invited the Court’s attention to Section 52 of the said Act. As per sub-section (2) of Section 52, in the event of a conflict between the provisions of the Act of 2023 and any other law in force, whether applicable across India or restricted to a particular State, the provisions of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 would prevail to the extent of such conflict.
Taking into consideration the above submission, the Court proceeded to examine the applicability and legal effect of Section 52 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, which establishes the supremacy of the said Act over any conflicting State law. Upon a prima facie analysis of the statutory provisions, the Court found that a case for interim relief had been made out in favour of the petitioner. Accordingly, the Court stayed the operation of the impugned notices and tax bills issued in respect of property taxes levied on telecommunication towers, in terms of the earlier order dated 05-03-2025.
The Court further observed that several important legal questions required consideration, particularly the extent to which regulations or rules framed under the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 could be applied in light of Sections 14 and 52 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, a central enactment. The Court noted that Section 14(3) and Section 52 of the 2023 Act, prima facie, supported the case of the petitioner.
In view of the above, the Court found no reason to deviate from the order passed in Indus Towers (supra).
It is, therefore, ordered as follows:
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The present writ petition shall be connected and listed along with Indus Towers Ltd. v Union of India.
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The parties shall complete the exchange of pleadings within a period of six weeks.
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The benefit of the order dated 05-03-2025 shall be extended to the petitioner herein, on identical terms.
[Elevar Digital Infrastructure Private v. UOI, WRIT – C No. – 4159 of 2025, decided on 01-05-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Counsel for Petitioner:- Aakash Prasad,Amitav Singh,Himanshu Singh
Counsel for Respondent:- A.S.G.I.,C.S.C.,Namit Sharma
1. Writ-C No.2057 of 2025
