M S PREMKUMAR GENERAL SECRETARY Vs. TRANSPORT COMMISSIONER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In all these cases, except O.P.No.29642/2002, the issue involved is the same, namely, whether circular issued by the Commissioner directing insistence of production of certificate from the Motor Transport Workers Welfare Fund Board regarding clearance of liability under the Motor Transport Workers Welfare Fund Act for effecting transfer of registration of ownership of stage carriages under the Motor Vehicles Act is unsustainable under law. Therefore all these cases are being disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) Ext. P1 in OP. N6.2626 of 2003, from which W. A. No.335/2003 arises, is the impugned circular. As is clear from the said circular itself, the same was issued as per directions of a learned Single Judge of this Court in Ext. P2 order in O.P.No.29642/ 2002, which original petition is also one of the cases under consideration in this batch, although the issue involved therein is slightly different. In Ext. P2 order, the direction was in the following terms.

(3.) We feel that it is not necessary to go into the issue in detail because another Division Bench of this Court in which one of us was a party had already dealt with a similar question in the decision of Regional Transport Officer v. Binu, reported in 2006 (1) KLT 188 and held that insistence of clearance of arrears of tax under Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1976 by owner of a motor vehicle in respect of one motor vehicle is permissible for effecting transfer of ownership under the Motor Vehicles Act of another vehicle owned by the same person. In that decision, after reviewing the provisions of the two complementary enactment, this Court in paragraph 7 held thus: