State of
Rajasthan & Ors. Vs. Heritage Crafts [2009] INSC 1720 (10 November 2009)
Judgment
CIVIL
APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO.1210 OF 2004 State of Rajasthan &
Ors. ...Appellant(s) Versus Heritage Crafts ...Respondent(s) With Civil Appeal
Nos.1211/2004, 1212/2004, 1213/2004, 1214/2004, 1215/2004, 1216/2004 and
1217/2004.
O R D E R
Delay
condoned.
In this
batch of civil appeals, the question which calls for consideration is whether
imposition of additional tax on transfer of ownership of a vehicle under the
second proviso to Section 4(1)(b) of the Rajasthan Motor Vehicles Taxation Act,
1951 is beyond the legislative competence of the State being outside the scope
of Entry 57 of List II of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India.
The
relevant part of Section 4 (charging section) of the 1951 Act, as amended by
Rajasthan Finance Act, 2000, is extracted here in below:
"4.
Imposition of Tax - (1) Save as otherwise provided by this Act or by the Rules
made there under or any other law for the time being in force, there shall be
levied and collected on all motor vehicles used or kept for use in the State, -
...2/- - 2 - (a) a tax, in respect of such vehicles, which are not covered by
clause (b), (c) or (d), at such rates as may be specified in the State
Government by notification in official gazette which shall not exceed 10% of
the cost of the chassis/ vehicle per annum:
Provided
that where the rates are not specified, on quarterly or monthly basis, by the
State Government, by notification in the official gazette, and if the tax is
permissible to be paid quarterly or monthly, the amount payable shall be
equivalent to the one fourth or one twelfth respectively of the annual rate of
tax;
(b) a One
Time Tax in the case of non transport vehicles at such rates as may be notified
by the State Government by notification in the official gazette which shall not
exceed 10% of the cost of the vehicle:
Provided
that in addition to One Time Tax there shall be paid by the owner or person
having possession or control of a motor vehicle on which one time tax is
payable, any tax or penalty as was payable under this Act for any period prior
to the coming into force of the provisions of Chapter V of the Rajasthan
Finance Act, 1997 (Rajasthan Act No. 9 of 1997) at such rates as were
applicable to such vehicles from time to time.
Provided
further that on every transfer of ownership of motor vehicle mentioned above,
an additional one time tax shall be payable at such rates as may be notified by
the State Government in the Official Gazette."
[Emphasis
supplied] According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, insertion of the
said proviso by the said Finance Act, 2000 was to check frequent transfers of
the vehicles. The said proviso was added to Section 4(1)(b) which makes a
provision for payment of additional onetime tax. It is the levy of this
additional onetime tax which stood challenged before the High Court. It is this
levy of additional onetime tax which has been struck down by the High Court.
Hence, these civil appeals are filed by the State of Rajasthan.
The
reason for striking down the impugned proviso by the High Court is given in
para 13 of the impugned judgment, which we quote hereinbelow:
"13.
In the instant case, the compensation for use of roads etc. by the vehicle was
already paid by the vendor under Section 4(1)(b) of the Act of 1951. He paid
the OTT for the life time of the vehicle. Keeping this in mind, each of the
petitioners purchased vehicle from the vendor. Obviously, it carried element of
tax in the purchase consideration of vehicle. Thus, the petitioner has already
paid off his share of tax in the form of purchase price paid to the vendor. The
object for insertion of the second proviso to Section 4(1)(b) as stated is to
discourage the transfer of vehicle. We have not been able to understand the
nexus between the transfer of ownership and the object of levy i.e.
compensatory tax. Thus, in our view, the impugned additional tax under proviso
second to Section 4(1)(b) of the Act is arbitrary inasmuch as it amounts to tax
a person merely on the incidence of transfer of vehicle, which is clearly
beyond the legislative competence being outside the scope of Entry 57 of List
II of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India. The ratio laid down by the
Division Bench of this Court in East India Hotels Ltd.'s case (supra) equally
applies to the facts of the instant cases. Thus, the second proviso to Section
4(1)(b) of the Act is violative of the Article 265 of the Constitution of India
and is, therefore, liable to be struck down."
On
reading the reasoning of the High Court for striking down the impugned proviso,
as quoted above, it shows that according to the High Court the second proviso
to Section 4(1)(b) violated Article 265 of the Constitution and, therefore, was
liable to be struck down.
In the
case of Atiabari Tea Company Limited vs. State of Assam and Ors. reported in
AIR 1961 SC 232, the constitutional validity of Assam Taxation (on Goods
Carried by Roads or Inland Waterways) Act, 1954 was challenged as violating
Article 301. The Majority, speaking through Justice Gajendragadkar, rejected
the contention of the State that the taxation laws are governed only by Part
XII by saying that "Article 265 itself inevitably takes in Article 245 of
the Constitution when in substance it says that a tax shall be levied by
authority of law". Hence, power of Parliament and the Legislatures of the
States to make laws including laws imposing taxes is subject to the provisions
of the Constitution and hence it will come under the purview of Article 301.
The Majority rejected the conclusion "Taxes may and do amount to
restrictions; but it is only such taxes as directly and immediately restrict
trade that would fall within the purview of Article 301".
Therefore,
in each case the court has to find out whether the impugned law puts a
restraint in the form of taxation on the movement of trade and if so, only then,
such law falls under Article 301 and it is only in such an event that State can
take the plea as to the nature of impugned levy, viz., that the levy is
compensatory/regulatory in nature and therefore falls outside scheme of Part
XIII.
It is the
doctrine of "direct and immediate effect"
which
constitutes the working test propounded vide para 19 of the judgment of this
Court in the case of Automobile Transport (Rajasthan) Limited vs. State of
Rajasthan, AIR 1962 SC 1406. Therefore, whenever the law is impugned as
violative of Article 301, the courts have to examine the effect of the
operation of the impugned law on the inter- State and the intra-State movement
of goods which has not been done in the present case.
In the
circumstances, we set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court and remit
the cases back to it for de novo consideration in accordance with law. We,
however, grant liberty to each of the assessees to amend the writ petition, if
so advised, within a period of four weeks from today. If the assessee carries
out the amendment within the said period, the High Court shall then consider
the matter in accordance with law. If any of the assessee failed to do so
within the time so fixed, in that event, it would not be open to the assessee
to amend the writ petition and, in such a case, the consequences have to
follow.
Accordingly,
civil appeals stand disposed of with no order as to costs.
All
issues are expressly kept open, subject to the assessees making appropriate
averment with regard to violation of Article 301 of the Constitution.
......................J. [S.H. KAPADIA]
......................J. [AFTAB ALAM]
New Delhi,
November 10, 2009.
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