In Brief
Municipal Corporation, Faridabad levied user charges on schools for discharging waste water from privately installed tube wells into municipal drains. The schools challenged the charges, arguing they constituted a fee requiring prior government approval under Section 88 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act. The High Court upheld their challenge. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that such user charges are not taxes or fees under Sections 87-88, but operational charges for utilizing municipal sewer infrastructure. The Corporation is justified in recovering charges for maintaining drains used by the schools, regardless of whether approval was sought.
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