MATORIA BUS SERVICE Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) M /s Matoria Bus Service (Private) Registered, the petitioner in all these writ petitions, is a partnership firm carrying on business of motor transport and it holds non -temporary stage carriage permits in respect of certain routes and for that purpose it owns a number of buses. The Rajasthan Passengers and Goods Taxation Act, 1959, thereinafter referred to as the Act. provides for levying of tax on passengers and goods carried by road in motor vehicles Section 6 of the Act provides for submission of returns by the owner of a motor vehicle at such intervals and to such authority as may be prescribed and Sub -section (2) of Section 6 of the Act provides for imposition of penalty in cases where an owner fails, without reasonable cause, to submit any return or pay the tax due according to such return within 15 days of the due date. The Rajasthan Passengers and Goods Taxation Rules, 1959, (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) which have been made in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 21 of the Act, make provision for the payment of tax by the owner of a motor vehicle. Rule 10A of the Rules, empowers the Assessing Authority to make a provisional assessment in cases where the owner fails to submit the return. Rule 19 of the Rules provides for the passing of an order of assessment in respect of the tax payable by an owner for the entire year. Section 14 of the Act provides for a right of appeal against an order passed by the Assessing Authority and Section 15 confers a revisional power on the Transport Commissioner, of his own motion or on an application made to him in the prescribed manner, to call for the record of any proceedings which are pending before him or have been disposed of by any authority subordinate to him made the Act for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or propriety of such proceedings or of any order made therein and to pass such order in relation there to as he may think fit.

(2.) IN all these writ petitions, the Assessing Authority, viz, the Assistant Commercial Taxes Officer, Hanumangarh, by separate orders dated 11th March, 1970 provisionally assessed the petitioner in respect of tax payable by it in respect of each vehicle owned by ii. In the said orders of provisional assessment, the Assessing Authority also imposed penalty on the petitioner under Sub -section (2) of Section 6 of the Act for failure to submit the returns. The aforesaid orders of provisional assessment were followed by orders for final assessment dated 30th December, 1970 passed by the Assessing Authority Under Rule 19 of the Rules. Under the said final assessment orders, the penalty imposed en the petitioner was less than the amount of penalty imposed under the provisional assessment orders. The penalties imposed under the provisional assessment order and the final assessment order in each of these cases were as under:

(3.) ALTHOUGH in the writ petitions, the petitioner has raised a number of questions but at the time of hearing the learned Counsel for the petitioner confined his attack to the impugned orders only on the ground that in the absence of and appeal by the Department seeking relief against the amount of penalty imposed by the Assessing Authority in the final assessment order passed by it, it was not competent for the Appellate Authority to interfere with the order of the final assessment passed by the Assessing Authority on the ground that the penalty imposed by the Assessing Authority in the provisional assessment order ought to have been imposed and the same could not be reduced while passing the final assessment order.