(1.) These cases raise a vexed question of considerable importance, frequently faced by the transport authorities and owners of public service vehicles and agitated before the Courts. The question is when is a 'contract carriage' as defined under section 2(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, (for brief 'the Act') said to have been used as a 'stage carriage' as defined under section 2(29) of the Act in order to attract the levy and demand of the increased rate of tax for a stage carriage as notified under section 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1963 (for brief 'the Taxation Act'). Is it necessary for the levy of tax as a stage carriage that the owner of the public service vehicle should hold a valid permit to ply it as a stage carriage? When one of the cases, W.P. No. 15820 of 1984 came up for hearing before Jeevan Reddy and Sardar Ali Khan, JJ., the learned Judges felt that the course of judicial authority on the question had not been steady but teetered particularly after the Division Bench decision of this Court in W.P. No. 3714 of 1982 and it was therefore not only desirable but necessary to have an authoritative pronouncement on this question by a Full Bench of this Court. Accordingly they referred this case and cases involving similar question to the Full Bench. That is how these cases have been posted now before us.
(2.) Before we proceed to answer the question, the short and relevant facts provoking the vexed question may usefully be set out: The contract carriage AAA 1999 was found carrying 49 adult passengers in all from Tadipatri to Anantapur. It was stopped and checked by the Motor Vehicles Inspector, Anantapur on 25-9-1984 at 4.00 P.M. near Singanamala tank on Anantapur - Tadipatri road. All the passengers boarded the vehicle at Tadipatri bus-stand. They paid an individual fare of Rs. 5/- each. All the passengers did not belong to a single party and each was travelling on his own work. The trip sheet maintained in the bus did not indicate any contract, express or implied, between the passengers and the owner of the contract carriage. Therefore, the Motor Vehicles Inspector came to the conclusion that the vehicle was misused as a stage carriage by collecting individual fares. On the basis of the check report submitted by the Motor Vehicles Inspector, Anantapur, the Regional Transport Officer issued a show cause notice to the registered owner of the contract carriage AAA 1999 to show cause within seven days from the date of receipt of the said notice as to why the maximum tax of Rs. 11,500/- applicable to a stage carriage should not be collected from him for the quarter ending with 30-9-1984. The registered owner submitted his explanation. He stated in his explanation that the Regional Transport Authority had issued a notice for taking action under section 60 of the Act for the said alleged offense and requested the Regional Transport Officer to await the decision of the Regional Transport Authority. The Regional Transport Officer on a consideration of the report of the checking officer found that the contract carriage had been misused as a stage carriage holding that all the passengers that boarded the contract carriage paid individual fare of Rs. 5/-, that there was no express or implied contract between the passengers and the contract carriage owner and that the list of passengers maintained did not tally with the passengers that were actually found travelling in the bus. The registered owner was therefore directed to pay the difference of Rs. 2750/-for the quarter ending 30-9-1984 being the difference in tax payable when the vehicle is used is a contract carriage and the tax payable when the vehicle is used as a stage carriage. Aggrieved against the said decision, the owner of the contract carriage filed the writ petition invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.
(3.) Broadly stated the question that therefore pre-eminently comes to the fore is' when can a contract carriage - a public service vehicle, be classified as a stage carriage to attract the higher rate of tax payable on a stage carriage under the notification issued by the State Government under section 3(2) of the Taxation Act.