Though Section 50 of the Bombay Police Act allows the administration to impose the tax on a trouble-prone area to recover unwarranted expenses -- like the one incurred on deployment of paramilitary forces in Bardoli -- the logistics are as yet unclear.

For one, who will pay the tax? Either each of the residents or a family taken as one unit, according to what is proposed. The total amount of administrative expenses will be divided by taxpayers to arrive at the share of each unit.

Talking to Express Newsline on Sunday, District Magistrate R M Shah said he would forward the proposal to the State government in a day or two. ``The town has become a spot of bother for the administration in the recent past. The tax will enable the administration to meet additional expenses'', he said.

Admitting even he didn't know when the archaic provision was last evoked or the nitty-gritty of its implementation, Shah said he was, however, confident the tax would have a psychological impact on Bardoli residents. ``Only a handful of miscreants are responsible for violence, but they manage to hold the entire town to ransom'', he said, adding, ``The tax will hurt them the most''.

But so will it hurt the innocents who, for no fault of theirs, will have to pay for a crime they did not commit. Worse: the levy will come after they have survived days and nights of rioting fearing for their safety. To this, Shah reasons, ``Doesn't curfew -- when innocents have to stay indoors for crimes committed by others -- have the same consequences?''

Most crimes occur, or are not detected, because people either connive with criminals or don't help the police arrest them. The tax, in a way, will serve as a reminder to them. ``We will use local intelligence to get to the criminals and may even auction their property if they can't pay the tax'', Shah said.

But isn't maintenance of law and order a state subject? Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Boudhik Pramukh Harshad Shah, whose motorbike showroom was torched by miscreants last week, admitted he hadn't heard of the tax, but warned, ``It is the responsibility of the State government and the local administration to maintain law and order. They can't tax people for something they can't control. Such a tax shouldn't be imposed; if it is, people people will oppose it''.

Additional Commissioner of Police P C Thakur, however, said, ``Such radical steps have to be taken during extreme situations.'' The tax was imposed in Godhdra in the '70s, when the town experienced some of the longest curfews ever, he recalled, adding that it had also been invoked in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, and parts of Bihar.

Another senior police officer, however, differed. ``I am not convinced about its modalities. The section provides for sweeping powers. There is always an element of unfairness and its imposition will not be fruitful, '' he said. ``The provision challenges an individual's fundamental rights and someone could easily haul the administration to court.'' Shah said that when he broached on the topic at a peace committee meeting, both communities sought immediate imposition of the tax. ``I am hopeful that the tax will bring about lasting peace in the town'', he said.