JUDGMENT

The 1^st petitioner is a company engaged in the business of providing financial assistance to purchase vehicles. The 2^nd petitioner is a registered owner of two goods carriage vehicles bearing Registration No.KL-63-9441 and Registration No.KL-40B-9355, which were purchased by the said petitioner by availing credit facility from the 1^st petitioner.

2. The challenge raised in this writ petition is against Exts.P7 and P8 demand notices issued by the 1^st respondent and Exts.P9 and P10 notices issued by the 2^nd respondent, for recovering the motor vehicle tax arrears in respect of the said vehicles, from the 2^nd petitioner, the registered owner. The challenge is raised, mainly on the ground that, as far as the said vehicles are concerned, the same were taken possession by the 1^st petitioner owing to the default on the part of the 2^nd petitioner in making the payment of monthly installments towards the credit facilities and later sold to third parties. To be precise, the vehicle bearing Registration No.KL-40B-9355 was taken possession by the 1^st petitioner on 29.11.2022, whereas, the vehicle bearing Registration No.KL-63-9441 was surrendered at the office of the 1st petitioner on