BHUPINDER SINGH Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ORDER:- Since common questions of law and facts are involved in these writ petitions, they can conveniently be disposed of by a common judgment.

(2.) The substance of the claim of the petitioners is that the tourists carried by them in their tourist vehicles between Shimla and Kalka are not liable to pay the passenger tax (hereinafter referred to as'the tax') under the Himachal Pradesh Passengers and Goods Taxation Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the'Act' of 1955'). The petitioners contend that the authorities under the Act of 1955, in Himachal Pradesh, are demanding the tax from the petitioners and under the pretext of this demand they are harassing them unnecessarily.

(3.) Mr.M.S. Sethi, learned counsel for the petitioners, contends that by virtue of the notification (Annexure-D1), issued by the Governor of Punjab on Feb. 11, 1960, the tourists travelling in tourist vehicles have been exempted from the payment of the passenger tax. It is desirable to reproduce the said notification which reads as under :