Tax liability on passenger and goods carriage falls on the permit holder as owner, not booking or forwarding agents.

Under the Bihar Taxation on Passengers and Goods (Carried by Public Service Motor Vehicles) Act, 1961 and similar State enactments, tax liability rests on the permit holder as the owner of the vehicle. The charging and machinery provisions were read together to require assessment, payment, penalty and recovery against the owner, while the statutory reference to a person in charge of the vehicle was treated as enlarging, not replacing, the owner-based liability. Separate licensing rules for booking, forwarding and collecting agents did not shift the tax burden, and hiring out the vehicle did not amount to a transfer of the permit.

---

---

Issues: Whether, under the Bihar Taxation on Passengers and Goods (Carried by Public Service Motor Vehicles) Act, 1961 and analogous State enactments, the liability to pay tax on passengers and goods carried by public service motor vehicles rests on the permit holder as the owner of the vehicle or on booking or forwarding agencies and other persons who may be in operational control of the vehicle.

Analysis: The charging provisions made the tax payable on passengers and goods carried by the public service motor vehicle, and the scheme of the Act required returns, assessment, payment, penalty and recovery to proceed against the owner. The definition of "owner" was read in its statutory context and in light of the permit system under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. The words referring to a person for the time being in charge of the vehicle were held not to displace the permit holder, but to enlarge the meaning so as to include persons acting on behalf of the owner. The separate licensing regime for collecting, forwarding and distributing agents under the Bihar Public Carrier Rules, 1971 was found irrelevant to the tax liability under the taxing Act, and the absence of a separate machinery for collection from consignors did not relieve the owner of liability. The transfer and permit provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 also supported the conclusion that the permit could not be treated as transferred merely because the vehicle was hired out.

Conclusion: The permit holder is liable to pay the tax as the owner, and booking or forwarding agencies are not the persons liable under the taxing statutes.

---