SEBASTIAN JOHN Vs. JOINT REGIONAL TRANSPORT OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is aggrieved with Ext.P19 proceedings of the Additional Registering Authority, Cherthala, declining the petitioner's claim for assessment under the Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1976, ('Taxation Act' for short) deeming the purchase value of the vehicle to be Rs.8 lakhs as seen from the sale letter by which the petitioner had purchased the vehicle from the registered owner at Himachal Pradesh.

(2.) The undisputed facts are that the petitioner purchased a Mitsubishi Pajero Car (LMV) bearing No. HP-72-B-4455 from Himachal Pradesh in the year 2014. The vehicle was one manufactured in the year 2009 and registered in Himachal Pradesh on 05.11.201 The owner of the vehicle, at the time of registration in Himachal Pradesh, had paid the one time tax, as applicable to that State, which is valid up to 2027, i.e. 15 years. The petitioner having purchased the vehicle in the year 2014, transferred the same to the State of Kerala and sought for registration of the same when demand of tax was made on the basis of the original price of the vehicle, but, making deductions as permissible in the table under Annexure I of the Taxation Act.

(3.) The petitioner's contention is that the vehicle, which is purchased by the petitioner, being a second hand vehicle, brought into this State from Himachal Pradesh, where it was registered originally, could be levied tax only under the third proviso to sub-section (1) of Sec. 3 of the Taxation Act. The petitioner asserts that the tax payable would be that specified in Annexure II, which is only Rs.10,600.00 for five years. The petitioner also relies on the judgment in the petitioner's case itself, produced at Ext.P1, wherein this Court had considered the issue and having recorded the findings of the petitioner, directed consideration on the basis of the overall factual situation. Immediately it cannot but be noticed that there is no binding declaration made in Ext.P15 judgment.