A tractor with a trailer attached is not a transport vehicle within the meaning of Section 38 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act and is exempt from taxation under Section 11-A of the Motor Vehicles Taxation Act if it is used solely for the purposes of agriculture.

( 1 ) THE petitioner in both the oases is one Rayala Ramarao, who was prosecuted under the provisions to be noticed below of the Motor Vehicles Act. There were originally three prosecutions against him and the cases are numbered as C. C. Nos. 903, 004 and 905 of 1958 on the file of the 1st Addl. Judicial IInd Class Magistrate, Elluru. C. C. No. 903 of 1958 ended in an acquittal and it does not require consideration.

( 2 ) IN C. C. No. 904 of 1958, the prosecution was laid under Section 38 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act (Act IV of 1939), the ground of complaint being that the vehicle did not have fitness certificate as retired by the section. The relevant Section 38 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act reacts as follows:"subject to the provisions of Section 38, a transport vehicle shall not be deemed to be validly registered for the purposes of Section 22, unless it carries a certificate of fitness in Form H as set forth in the First Schedule issued by the prescribed authority, to the effect that the vehicle complies for the time being with all the requirements of Ch. V and the rules made thereunder. Where the prescribed authority refuses to issue such certificate, it Shall supply the owner of the vehicle with its reasons in writing for such refusal. "it may be seen from this that the section applies only to a transport vehicle. "transport Vehicle" is defined in Clause (33) of Section 2 as follows: transport vehicle means a public service vehicle or a goods vehicle. " A public service vehicle is defined in Clause (25) of the same section as moaning:"any motor vehicle used or adapted to be used for the carriage of passengers for hire or reward, and includes a motor-cab, contract carriage, and stage carriage. "a goods vehicle is defined in Clause (8) of the same section as meaning:"any motor vehicle constructed or adapted for use for the carriage of goods, or any motor vehicle; not so constructed or adapted when used for the carriage of goods solely or in addition to passengers. "the question for determination is whether a tractor with a trailer attached to it could be regarded as a transport vehicle within the meaning of Section 38 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act. That it is not a public service vehicle within the definition of Clause (33) of Section 2 of the Act is not seriously disputed. The only question, therefore, is whether it can be regarded as a goods vehicle.

( 3 ) THE facts of the case are that on the evening of 27-3-1958, at Elluru, P. W. 1 Motor Vehicles Inspector, who was checking the vehicles passing along the road stopped the accuseds vehicle which was a tractor cum trailer combination and checked it. He found that it had no fitness certificate as contemplated under Section 38 of the Motor Vehicles Act and also that the quarterly tax had not been paid.

( 4 ) MR. Adavi Rama Rao, learned counsel for the petitioner, draws my attention to Clause (33) of Section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act as it stood prior to the present sub-section which has been amended in 1956 and that reads as follows: Transport vehicle means a public service vehicle, a goods vehicle, a locomotive or a tractor other than a locomotive or tractor used solely for agricultural purposes. " From this, it is contended, and in my opinion, quite rightly, that the legislature by introducing the amendment in 1956, advisedly omitted the tractor or the tractor used solely for agricultural purposes. Obviously, the legislature intended that this vehicle should not in its view come within the meaning of transport vehicle. On a plain reading of the provisions of Clause (33) of Section 2 of the Act, I have no difficulty whatsoever in coming to the conclusion that a tractor is not a transport vehicle with-in the meaning of Clause (33) of Section 2 of the Act as it now stands and as it stood on the date of the alleged offence on 27-3-1958. It is contended that the trailer does not come within the definition of a goods vehicle because of the obvious reason that t