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TMI Blog2005 (9) TMI 644X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rehensive sense by the legislature. Therefore, we have to read the words motor vehicle in the broadest possible sense keeping in mind that the Act has been enacted in order to keep control over motor vehicles, transport vehicles etc. A combined reading of the aforestated definitions under section 2, reproduced hereinabove, shows that the definition of motor vehicle includes any mechanically propelled vehicle apt for use upon roads irrespective of the source of power and it includes a trailer. Therefore, even though a trailer is drawn by a motor vehicle, it by itself being a motor vehicle, the tractortrailer would constitute a goods carriage u/s 2(14) and consequently, a transport vehicle u/s 2(47). The test to be applied in such a case is whether the vehicle is proposed to be used for transporting goods from one place to another. When a vehicle is so altered or prepared that it becomes apt for use for transporting goods, it can be stated that it is adapted for the carriage of goods. Applying the above test, we are of the view that the tractor-trailer in the present case falls u/s 2(14) as a goods carriage and consequently, it falls under the definition of transport vehicle u/s 2(47 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to the said 1957 Act on the ground that the said three units were transport vehicles, which required permits under section 66 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and that the appellant was liable to pay the said tax on the weight(s) of the three units. 3. Being aggrieved by the confirmation of the demand dated 7.2.1990, the appellant moved the Deputy Commissioner of Transport, in appeal. By his order dated 30.6.1990, the Deputy Commissioner of Transport held that although the tractor and the trailer were separate independent motor vehicles, separately registrable, the tractor-trailer as a unit was a different category of goods carriage requiring permit under section 66 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which was not obtained and, therefore, the appellant was not entitled to the benefit of exemption under section 16 of the Taxation Act, 1957. 4. Being aggrieved by the said order dated 30.6.1990, the appellant herein moved the Karnataka High Court by way of writ petition no.17851 of 1990. In the writ petition, the appellant pleaded that its tractors and trailers were registered in the State of Maharashtra as non-transport vehicles and transport vehicles respectively; that they had obtaine ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 66 of the M.V. Act, requiring the appellant to obtain permits for their combination(s) and since the appellant failed to obtain such permits, the appellant became liable to pay tax under section 3 of the Taxation Act, 1957, notwithstanding registration of tractors and trailers, as separate units, in the State of Maharashtra. For the above reasons, the High Court dismissed the writ appeal filed by the appellant. Hence, this civil appeal. 7. Mr. Chitale, learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the tractors of the appellant are registered in Maharashtra as non-transport vehicle whereas the trailers are registered in Maharashtra as transport-vehicles ; that the trailers have been given national permits under section 88(12) of the M.V. Act, which enables them to ply as transport vehicles in the State of Karnataka; that the word tractor is defined in section 2(44) of the said 1988 Act, whereas the word trailer is defined in section 2(46) of the said 1988 Act; that a certificate of registration issued under section 46 of the 1988 Act was effective throughout India and if the contention of the taxation authority in the present case is upheld, it shall undermine the guarantee give ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as a trailer . On the other hand, according to the learned counsel, the trailers are registered in the State of Maharashtra as transport vehicles because they carry goods on it; that tractors and trailers are separately registered as motor vehicles; that once the State of Maharashtra has recognized tractors as coming under non-transport category vide registration certificates issued by it, it was not open to the tax authorities in the State of Karnataka to go behind the registration certificates issued by the State of Maharashtra which conclusively established that tractors were non-transport vehicles entitled to exemption under the above notification dated 12.10.1959; that the effect of treating the tractor as transport vehicle while interpreting exemption notification amounts to reopening of the registration made under the said 1988 Act, which was not permissible in law and that the taxation authority under the Taxation Act cannot usurp the authority vested in the registering authority under section 41 of the M.V. Act, 1988. Learned counsel submitted that it was not open to the taxation authority to create a new category of motor vehicles requiring registration which function is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y of tax on motor vehicles in the State of Karnataka. Under section 2(b) taxation authority is defined to mean such officer as may be pointed out by the State Government to exercise the powers and functions of the Taxation Authority under the Act. Under section 2(j), it is provided that the words and expressions used but not defined in the Taxation Act shall have the meaning assigned to them in the M.V. Act, 1988. Section 3 is in Chapter II, which deals with levy of tax. It is a charging section. It states that a tax shall be levied at the rates specified in part A of the schedule to the Act. It is a levy on all motor vehicles suitable for use on roads. Under the second proviso, it is laid down that Tractors and Trailers owned by the agriculturists or exclusively used for agricultural operations shall be liable to pay tax at the rates specified in part A2 of the schedule. Section 3(2) begins with a non-obstante clause. It states that notwithstanding anything contained in section 3(1), taxes at the rates specified in part B of the schedule shall be levied on motor vehicles suitable for use on roads, which are in the State for periods shorter than a quarter, but not exceeding thirty ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... axation Act is that the State is empowered to levy tax on all motor vehicles which are designed and manufactured for use on the roads. 13. In the case of State of Mysore v. Syed Ibrahim reported in AIR 1967 SC 1424, the owner of a motor vehicle carried eight passengers in his car and collected ₹ 5/- from each of them. He was charge-sheeted under section 42(1) of the M.V. Act, 1939 (section 66 of the MV Act, 1988) for having used the car as a transport vehicle without the permit required under section 42(1). The State contended before this Court that though the motor vehicle was registered as a motor-car, if it was used for a purpose mentioned in section 42(1), namely, carrying passengers for hire, the motor vehicle on that occasion must be said to have been used as a transport vehicle and if so used without a permit, there would be a breach of section 42(1). [Underlining supplied by us]. Accepting this contention, this Court held that the levy of tax under section 3 on motor vehicles depended upon the use of the vehicle to which the vehicle was put; that the tax was leviable on the basis of the actual or intended use; that it is the use of the motor vehicle on the given occas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ehicle on the given occasion, whether it is adapted for that purpose or not. Therefore, in our view, the categorization of tractor-trailer by the taxation authority has been rightly made based on the use of the motor vehicle on the given occasion and, therefore, there is no merit in the argument advanced on behalf of the appellant that the taxation authority cannot go behind the certificate of registration issued by the authorities in the State of Maharashtra. In this connection, we may further point out that a tractor-trailer consists of a tractor which contains a cab or a driver s seat and a compartment with a sleeping berth, the engine and the hood carried on two axles or four axles, as the case may be. The trailer is a separate box car attached to the tractor by what is called as the fifth wheel. This meaning is given in the technical dictionary. The point to be noted here is that the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 replaced the 1939 Act in order to rationalize certain definitions with the additions of new definitions of new types of vehicles. Under section 61 of the 1988 Act, which comes within Chapter IV dealing with registration of motor vehicles, registration of trailers is made c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lely for the carriage of goods, or any motor vehicle not so constructed or adapted when used for the carriage of goods; (28) motor vehicle or vehicle means any mechanically propelled vehicle adapted for use upon roads whether the power of propulsion is transmitted thereto from an external or internal source and includes a chassis to which a body has not been attached and a trailer; but does not include a vehicle running upon fixed rails or a vehicle of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises or a vehicle having less than four wheels fitted with engine capacity of not exceeding twenty-five cubic centimetres; (44) tractor means a motor vehicle which is not itself constructed to carry any load (other than equipment used for the purpose of propulsion); but excludes a road-roller; (46) trailer means any vehicle, other than a semi-trailer and a side-car, drawn or intended to be drawn by a motor vehicle; (47) transport vehicle means a public service vehicle, a goods carriage, an educational institution bus or a private service vehicle. 19. Section 2(28) is a comprehensive definition of the words motor vehicle . Although, a trailer is separately d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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