Back
1985 Supreme(SC) 143
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
A.P. SEN AND E.S. VENKATARAMIAH, JJ.
K. M. Chikkaputtaswamy etc., Appellants
Versus
State of A.P. and others, Respondents.
Civil Appeals Nos. 477, 478 and 479 of 1971, D/- 23-4-1985.
ATTAR SINGH, G.N.Rao, N.R.L.Iyengar, S.S.JAVALI, T.V.S.N.Chari
Headnote:
Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1963 - Section 9(1), 9(1)(b), 3, 2(d), 9 - Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 – Section 63(3), 68-D, 63(3-A), 63 - Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 226, 133(1)(b), 265 - Transport - Carriage Service - Permit Granted by Regional Transport Authority - Appellant in Civil Appeal was operating a stage carriage service under a permit granted by Regional Transport Authority, between Bangalore in State of Mysore and Hindupur in State of Andhra Pradesh - Said permit had been duly countersigned by concerned Transport Authority in State of Andhra Pradesh - Appellant in Civil Appeal No. was operating a stage carriage service between Bangalore in State of Mysore and Kadiri in State of Andhra Pradesh by virtue of a permit issued by Regional Transport Authority - Whether exemption granted by Government of Andhra Pradesh from payment of tax by a notification issued under S. 9(1) of Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1963 - Whether concession had to be withdrawn under a notification alone - What should be really examined is whether granting of concession itself was required by law to be done only by a notification - Whether routes in question should be de-recognised or excluded from purview. of inter-State agreements - Whether Government of Andhra Pradesh was precluded by rule of promissory estoppel from issuing impugned notices of demand – Held, It may be that it was possible for two States to enter into an inter-State agreement without following elaborate procedure prescribed under sub-sec. (3-A) of S. 63 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 - But as already mentioned resolutions adopted at meeting of Home Secretaries were not effective unless they were agreed upon by both State Governments later on and order passed by Government of Andhra Pradesh unilaterally merely directed Transport Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh to take further action after consulting Transport Commissioner of State of Mysore - It is not shown that when sub-sec. (3-A) of S. 63 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 came into force any inter-State agreement concluded by both State Governments on lines of conclusions arrived at by Home Secretaries had come into existence - Hence court do not find any substance in this contention too - After giving our anxious consideration to whole case, Court is of view that appellants were entitled to claim exemption granted by notification issued under S. 9(1) of Act, during relevant period - In result, judgment of High Court insofar as it held that appellants were not entitled to exemption from payment of tax during relevant period, is liable to be set aside - Court, accordingly, set aside judgment of High Court to above extent - Impugned notices of demand are quashed - Government of Andhra Pradesh is directed not to take any steps to recover tax demanded by it from appellants - Appeals allowed.
Judgment
VENKATARAMIAH, J. :- The short question which arises for consideration in these appeals by certificate is whether the exemption granted by the Government of Andhra Pradesh from payment of tax by a notification dated March 27, 1963 issued under S. 9(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1963 (Act No. 5 of 1963) (hereinafter referred to as the Act) in respect of the motor vehicles operated by the appellants on certain inter-State routes came to an end with effect from January 1, 1970.
2. The brief facts which have led to these appeals are these. The appellant in Civil Appeal No. 477 of 1971 was operating a stage carriage service from the year 1965 under a permit granted by the Regional Transport Authority, Bangalore between Bangalore in the State of Mysore (now called the State of Karnataka) and Hindupur in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The said permit had been duly countersigned by the concerned Transport Authority in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The appellant in Civil Appeal No. 478 of 1971 was operating a stage carriage service between Bangalore in the State of Mysore and Kadiri in the State of Andhra Pradesh from 1963 by virtue of a permit issued by the Regional Transport Authority, Bangalore and countersigned by the concerned Transport Authority in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, the appellant in Civil Appeal No. 479 of 1971 was operating the stage carriage service between Tumkur in the State of Mysore and Tirupathi in the State of Andhra Pradesh under a permit issued by the Regional Transport Authority, Tumkur and countersigned by the appropriate Transport Authority in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The counter signatures of the three permits, referred to above, had been done pursuant to certain inter-State agreements entered into between the State of Mysore and the State of Andhra Pradesh under S. 63(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. On March 27, 1963 the Government of Andhra Pradesh had issued a notification under S. 9(1) of the Act, the relevant part of which read as follows :-
" In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sec. (1) of S. 9 of the Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1963 (Andhra Pradesh Act 5 of 1963), the Governor of Andhra Pradesh hereby exempts from payment of the tax leviable under the said Act, all stage carriages, contract carriages, public carriers, and private carriers, registered in the State of Mysore and operating on a route which lies in both the States of Mysore and Andhra Pradesh.
Provided that :-
(i) the route is recognised by both the States to be such a route;
(ii) every such motor vehicle is operating in accordance with the conditions of a permit granted as a result of an agreement arrived at between the two States;
(iii) the tax leviable in respect of every such motor vehicle under any law for the time being in force in the State of Mysore has been paid in full in that, State."
3. Since the motor vehicles used by the appellants satisfied the conditions mentioned in the above notification they came to be exempted from payment of the motor vehicles tax under the Act.
4. On Jan. 25, 1968 the Government of the State of Mysore published an approved scheme under S. 68-D of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 which was popularly known as the Kolar Scheme authorising the State Transport Undertaking in the State of Mysore to operate exclusively stage carriage services on certain routes and the said scheme came into force with effect from Jan. 1, 1969. The said scheme provided that the State Transport Undertaking of the State of Mysore would operate its services on all the routes covered by the said scheme to the complete exclusion of other persons.. It however stated that the existing permit holders on the inter-State routes could continue to operate on such inter-State routes subject to the condition that their permits would be rendered ineffective on the overlapping portions of the notified routes which lay within the State of Mysore. The routes on which the appellants
