GURBAX RAI AGGARWAL Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE dispute in this writ petition pertains to levy of toll upon the petitioners under the provisions of Levy of tolls Act Svt.1995. The meaning of expression ËœTollâ„¢ came to be examined by their lordships of the Supreme Court in Hans Raj & Ors vs State of J&K and ors reported in 2002(6) SCC 227. Their lordships observed: - The expression Ëœtollâ„¢ normally means a definite payment exacted by the State or the local authority by virtue of sovereignty or lordship, or in return for protection, more specially, for permission to pass somewhere, do some act, or perform some function. Another meaning attributed to the term is a charge for the landing or shipping of goods at a port, a charge made for transport of goods, especially by railway or canal.

(2.) DEALING with tolls under the statute their lordships noticed the statement in Halsburyâ„¢s Laws of England,4th Edn. P96 para 138 and observed: - It is stated that highway and bridge tolls may be payable under statute. In the case of an independent statutory undertaking engaged in the maintenance of a bridge, the power to revise the amount of the tolls may be in the undertakerâ„¢s direction, or the tolls may only be subject to a requirement that they are to be reasonable in amount. Their lordships further observed: - It is clear from the above that though tolls are of different types and may be levied in different situations, it ordinarily means the amount which the Government, or a local authority or a person duly authorized by the Government may collect for passage of carriages and vehicles over a road or bridge. This meaning is by no means exhaustive. Where provision for levy and collection of tolls is made under a legislative enactment or a subordinate legislation then the levy is to be governed strictly according to the provisions of the statute or rules or any other instrument, as the case may be.

(3.) WHILE examining the scope of the J&K Levy of Tolls Act 1995, their lordships noticed that the Act stood enacted with a view to consolidate in one Act the provisions of levy of tolls upon public roads and bridges in J&K State. Section 3 of the Act is charging section which as it stood on the date when controversy arose between the parties, read as follows: - 3. Rate of tolls to be levied (1) - The Government may from time to time prescribe, annual or alter rates of tolls to be levied upon any road, ferry or bridge in the State and may place the collection of such tolls under such management as may appear to it proper, and all persons employed in the management and collection of such tolls shall be liable to the same responsibilities as would belong to them if employed in the collection of the Excise Revenue under the Jammu and Kashmir Excise Act,1958. 2 - The rates prescribed to be levied at the commencement of this Act shall be the rates mentioned in the first schedule hereto annexed. The rates shall continue to be levied till they are annulled or altered in accordance with the provisions of this section. 3 - The power to annul or alter the rates vested in the Government under the foregoing provisions of this section may be exercised from time to time after publication in the Government Gazette. The amendment and alteration shall have the same force and effect as if they had been contained in the first schedule;