In Brief
This case involves a group of appeals challenging the validity of property tax levied on mobile telephone towers in Gujarat and Mumbai. The State sought to tax mobile towers under Entry 49 of List II of the Constitution (taxes on lands and buildings), while cellular operators contended that towers were not buildings and such taxation was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court held that although mobile towers are not buildings in common parlance, they constitute structures erected on land and fall within the constitutional meaning of 'land and building' for tax purposes. The Court emphasized that constitutional interpretation must be dynamic and broad, and that the State Legislature has power to levy property tax on mobile towers. The Court set aside the Gujarat High Court's partial invalidation and disposed of all related appeals and petitions accordingly.
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