SHYAM LAL Vs. DISTRICT BOARD OF AGRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These are two connected petitions raising the same questions for decision and may conveniently be disposed of together.

(2.) The petitioners in the two petitions are permit holders for stage carriages which run on the route Agra to Tantpur. On this route, two rivers intercept the highway. Khari river does it at mile 13 and Uttangan river at mile 23. There are permanent masonry bridges over these two rivers, but the bridges are somewhat low. There is no difficulty in the seasons other than rainy season and all the stage carriages and buses run over the pucca bridges while travelling on this route. The difficulty only arises sometime during the rainy season, because on some days the water flows over the bridges and if the water is sufficiently deep over them, it is not possible to cross the bridges by motor transports. On those days the passengers get down from the buses and walk down to the neigh- bouring ferries where arrangements are made to carry passengers across the river but not the buses. Previously there used to be no levy of toll tax on vehicles crossing the bridges over the rivers Khari and Uttangon. But subsequently (the exact time does not appear from the affidavits), the District Board of Agra started levying a toll tax on the vehicles crossing these bridges, in the rainy season. From 1st July to 31st. October each year, the stage carriage owners or drivers have to pay a sum of Rs. 4/8/- to the District Board or to its agent as toll money, at each stream on each way of their journey. The result is that these bus owners have to pay asmuch as Rs. 18/- per bus if the buses go from Agra to Tantpur and return to Agra the same day. In the petitions, the legality of this impost has been challenged, and the prayer made is that a writ of mandamus be issued to the respondents directing them to refrain from collecting any toll tax from the petitioners for taking their buses across these two bridges.

(3.) The first point urged in support of the petitions is that the petitioners travel on a highway and a highway cannot be declared to be a ferry under the Northern India Ferries Act. The argument is that the pucca bridges on this route form part of a highway and the District Board has no jurisdiction to levy any toll tax, because bridges cannot be called ferries. The word "ferry" itself has not been defined in Section 3 of the Northern India Ferries Act, No. XVII of 1878; it is merely said that it includes a bridge of boats, pontoons or rafts, a swing-bridge, a flying-bridge and a temporary bridge, and the approaches to, and landing-places of, a ferry. Section 4 authorises the State Government to declare what ferries shall be deemed to be public terries, to take possession of private ferries and declare to be public ones, to establish new public lerries, to define and change their limits or to discontinue any public ferry. Section 14 lays down that whoever uses the approach to, or landing-place of, a public ferry is liable to pay the toll payable for crossing such ferry. Section 15 says that tolls, according to such rates as are from time to time fixed by the State Government, shall be levied on all persons, animals, vehicles and other tilings crossing any river by a public ferry, and not employed or transmitted on the public service. There is a proviso which says that the State Government may, from time to time, declare that any persons, animals, vehicles or other things shall be exempt from payment of such tolls.