Registration fee for intrastate coal transport lacked authority, but transit passes and transit fee remained mandatory under forest rules.

Registration and levy of registration fee could not be insisted upon for movement of coal within Uttar Pradesh because the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and the U.P. Transit of Timber and other Forest Produce Rules, 1978 authorised registration only in the limited context of foreign passes and property marks for timber or forest produce crossing the relevant frontier. The fee was therefore without authority of law and, if collected, had to be refunded. The transit control regime under the 1978 Rules nevertheless remained applicable, so transit passes and transit fee were still required for movement of forest produce, including coal treated as forest produce in the connected precedent.

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Issues: Whether the respondents could insist on registration and levy registration fee for movement of coal within Uttar Pradesh, and whether the petitioners were nonetheless required to obtain transit passes and pay transit fee under the applicable forest transit rules.

Analysis: The power to make rules under section 41(2)(i) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 extends to regulation of property marks for timber and their registration, while section 41A governs movement of timber or other forest produce across customs frontiers. On reading the Act with rules 20 and 21 of the U.P. Transit of Timber and other Forest Produce Rules, 1978, the registration contemplated is only in relation to foreign passes and property marks for timber or forest produce moving across the relevant frontier. There is no statutory basis for requiring registration of a dealer merely because coal is transported within the State. The charge of registration fee therefore lacked authority of law. At the same time, the transit regime under the 1978 Rules continued to apply to movement of forest produce, including coal treated as forest produce in the connected precedent, so transit passes and transit fee remained payable.

Conclusion: The insistence on registration and recovery of registration fee for movement of coal within Uttar Pradesh was unlawful and the fee, if collected, had to be refunded. The petitioners were, however, still required to obtain transit passes and pay transit fee in accordance with the 1978 Rules.

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