CANTONMENT BOARD MHOW CANTONMENT BOARD SAUGOR Vs. M P STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPN :REWA TRANSPORT SERVICES REWA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These six appeals raise a common question and are directed against the judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the said common question of law being whether the Cantonment Board is entitled to levy entry tax on Motor Vehicles The High Court Madhya Pradesh by the impugned judgments has come to the conclusion that in view of the bar of imposition of tax by any local authority contained in Section 6(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the Taxation Act) the Municipality could not have imposed the entry tax on Motor Vehicles conferred under Section 127 of the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act) and consequently the Cantonment Board in exercise of its power under Section 60 (1) of the Cantonment Act cannot impose the entry tax on motor vehicles, the said power be co-extensive with the power of a Municipality under Section 127 of the Municipalities Act,

(2.) The broad facts leading to the impugned judgments of Madhya Pradesh High Court may be briefly stated as under:- To consolidate and amend the law relating to the administration of Cantonments the Cantonments Act 1924 (Act 2 of 1924) was enacted in place of the earlier Cantonment Act (Act 15 of 1910 and the Cantonment Code of 1912) to bring the law relating to the Administration of Cantonments in conformity with the ordinary Municipal Law. Cantonments is defined in Section 3 of the said Act to mean any place or places in which any part of the Forces is quartered to be declared and notified in the Official Gazette by the Central Government. Under Section 10 of the said Act for every Cantonment there shall be a Cantonment Board and the said Board is a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire and hold property both moveable and immovable as provided under Section 11 of the said Act, Chapter V of the said Act deals with taxation which could be imposed by the Cantonment Board. Section 60 of the Act is a General Power of taxation which may be extracted herein below:- 60. General Power of taxation:(1) The Board may, with the previous sanction of the Central Government, impose in any cantonment any tax which under any enactment for the time being in force, may be imposed in any municipality in the State wherein such cantonment is situated.

(3.) The Madhya Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1947 (M. P. Act No. No. VI of 1947) provide for the levy of a tax on Motor Vehicles in Madhya Pradesh. Section 3 (1) the said Act entitled the Taxation Authority to levy tax on motor vehicles used or kept for use at the rate specified in the First Schedule read with sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the said Act, While the Taxation Act was in force the Madhya Pradesh legislatures enacted the law relating to Municipalities and to make better provision for the organisation and administration of Municipalities in Madhya Pradesh called the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1961 (M. P. Act No. 37 of 1961). The aforesaid Municipalities Act repealed the earlier law relating to Municipalities in different parts of Madhya Pradesh, namely, the Central Provinces and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922, the Madhya Bharat Municipalities Act, 1954, the Vindhya Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1946, and the Bhopal State Municipalities Act, 1955. Section 127 (1) (iii) the said Municipalities Act which has a direct bearing in deciding the controversy that has arisen in these appeals may be extracted hereinafter in extenso for better appreciation of the point in issue.