ROSHAN LAL Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS review petition is directed against Judgement of the Division Bench dated July 31,1986 passed in D. B. Civil Special Appeal No. 46 of 1984 (Pabudan Singh vs. State of Raj. & ors.) alongwith 49 other special appeals.

(2.) THE contention of the petitioner-appellant is that actually, in the writ petition bearing No. 2083 of 1983, the validity and the vires of the provisions contained in s. 4-B and proviso (ii) and (iii) appended to ss. 14 and 17 of the Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1951 (for short 'the Act') as amended by Amendment Act of 1982 were challenged on various grounds. However, while upholding the validity of those provisions, the learned single Judge partly allowed the writ petition and directed the respondents to decide the matter in accordance with the observations made in the judgement. Before the learned single Judge, it was contended by the petitioner-appellant that even if the validity of s. 4-B of the Act is upheld, as per Notification S. O. 96, published in Rajasthan Gazette (Extra-ordinary ) (Part 4 (Ga) (II) dated 1. 10. 1982),he being a holder of a permit of the city route i. e. city bus route known as Haldi Ghati-Undari route, he shoud be taxed at the rates prescribed by the aforesaid notification for stage carriages plying exclusively in municipal or city limits. Whiledealing with this contention, the learned single Judge has observed as under: "the intention of the Legislature is very clear that city buses should be limited only within the municipal limits and if it extends beyond municipal limits then it is a stage carriage for all purposes and it cannot get the advantage, which is made available to the city buses. I agree with Mr. Mridul when he submits that this will cause great inconvenience to the people who are living in the towns and are getting facilities of city buses. THE Court cannot extend the benefit which is available under the law to the holder of such permits who are plying beyond city limits or municipal limits even for a kilometer. THE Govt. should take note of such a hardship and should try to do something to serve the cause of the travelling public. However, no relief can be granted to such persons. " Aggrieved against this finding of the learned single Judge, the petitioner filed a special appeal bearing No. 79 of 1984 and against this finding, he raised grounds No. 25 and 42 in the memo of appeal of that special appeal. It was contended by him that demand raised by the respondents is excessive and he is required to pay a sum of Rs. 19,000/- per year as Special Road Tax under s. 4-B of the Act, as amended by Amendment Act of 1982. It has been contended by the petitioner-appellant in this review petition that about this contention, no specific finding has been given by the learned Division Bench while deciding special appeal, although this contention was specifically raised in the memo of appeal and was argued at the time of hearing but as the judgement was delivered by the learned Judges of the Division Bench after the expiry of about one and half years of the conclusion of the arguments, that point escaped their notice.

(3.) IN this respect, Mr. R. N. Munshi, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner-appellant has drawn our attention to a Division Bench decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Smt. Sk. Mumtaz Begum V. RTO cum Licensing Officer, Nellore (1), wherein it has been held that so long as stage carriage permit is granted on a route which is determined as a town service route by the RTA, the authorities under the Taxation Act will have to accept that determination as final and levy tax only as town service routes. They have no jurisdiction to go into the question whether it is a town service route or not, so long as the determination under r. 282 subsists. That was a case of grant of permit on a town service route and tax was to be collected on the basis of that fact. Here, the permit has no concern whatsoever with the levy of special road tax. The special road tax has to be collected from the different classes of Motor Vehicles. However, a concession has been granted for stage carriages plying exclusively in municipal or city limts and not beyond it. Even if a permit is granted on a particular route treating that route to be a city bus route and that route may lie outside the municipal or city limits but that will not entitle the holders of that city route permit to the concessional rates of special road tax.