Tax legislation

Where a court was dealing with the constitutional validity of a taxation law enacted by Parliament or Provincial Legislature, it must have regard to the principles that there was always presumption in favour of constitutionality of a law made by Parliament or a Provincial Legislature; that no enactment could be struck down by just saying that it was arbitrary or unreasonable or irrational but some constitutional infirmity had to be found; that the court was not concerned with the wisdom or unwisdom, the justice or injustice of the law as the Parliament and Provincial Legislatures were supposed to be alive to the needs of the people whom they represented and they were the best judge of the community by whose suffrage they came into existence; that hardship was not relevant in pronouncing on the constitutional validity of a fiscal statute or economic law, and that in the field of taxation, the Legislature enjoyed greater latitude for classification.