JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: This Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for issuance of Writ of Mandamus, forbearing the respondent and their subordinates from demanding or collecting Entry Tax in respect of the petitioner Imported ROLLS ROYCE GHOST FK42 RHD, Diamond Colour vide bearing Chassis No.SCA664S0XFUH18471, Enginer No.90311169 for the purpose of assignment of new registration mark by the 3rd respondent herein.)

1. The writ on hand is filed to issue a mandamus forbearing the respondents and their subordinates from demanding or collecting Entry Tax in respect of the petitioner's Imported ROLLS ROYCE GHOST FK42 RHD, Diamond Colour vide bearing Chassis No.SCA664S0XFUH18471, Engine No.90311169 for the purpose of assignment of new registration mark by the 3rd respondent.

Facts of the case:

2. The petitioner states that he has purchased one ROLLS ROYCE GHOST FK42 RHD, Diamond Colour car of United Kingdom origin and the port of loading was London. The vehicle has been manufactured by Rolls Royce Motor Cars Limited and the price of the vehicle is Rs.2,15,26,563/- and the petitioner has paid customs duty of Rs.2,69,79,860/-. The petitioner approached the 3rd respondent for the purpose of new registration of the imported vehicle and the 3rd respondent insisted the petitioner to submit 'Entry Tax Clearance Certificate' to be obtained from the 2nd respondent. When the petitioner approached the office of the 2nd respondent, the 2nd respondent insisted payment of Entry Tax in respect of the imported vehicle.

3. The petitioner states that he has paid the customs duty and therefore, no further tax is to be levied. Neither Sales Tax nor Entry Tax is levied for vehicles that are imported. The contention of the petitioner is that, the goods that are manufactured in India suffers payment of Excise Duty and the goods that are imported suffers Customs Duty. By questioning the levy of Entry Tax, the petitioner has prayed for an injunction restraining the respondents from collecting the Entry Tax in respect of the imported vehicle.

4. The issue raised in the present writ petition is no more res integra. The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of State of Kerala v. Fr.William Fernandez, reported in [2018] 57 GSTR 6 (SC), has held as follows:

“No court can compel the Government to exercise its power to examine or for that matter to grant administrative waiver. It is a policy decision to be taken by the Government and it is not for the Court to dictate as to whether or not the Government should exercise such power. The law on the subject as decided by this Court as early as September 1, 1999 holds that the entry tax is leviable on imported vehicles. Therefore, the submission that the matter should be relegated to the Government for grant of administrative waiver is not tenable.”

5. The said judgment was followed by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court in the case of V.Krishnamurthy Vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Others, reported in [2019] 69 GSTR 326 (Mad).

Discussion:

6. The rich affluent and reputed persons are importing vehicle from other countries. The writ petitions are filed seeking injunction forbearing the respondents from demanding Entry Tax by the State. By virtue of interim orders passed in the writ petitions, they have registered the vehicle and plying the same using the roads within the State of Tamil Nadu. However, the Entry Taxes are not paid so far and thus, the relevance and importance are to be considered by this Court.

7. Large number of writ petitions are filed. Some of the writ petitions were disposed of and other writ petitions are kept pending on various reasons, including the reason that the said cases are not listed by the High Court.

8. Undoubtedly, the State suffers huge revenue loss for many number of years, as these tax dues are not collected on account of the interim orders granted and due to pendency of the writ petitions.

9. Every citizen of this great nation has a right to seek constit