Transit vehicles not "kept" in the State; motor vehicle tax cannot attach to mere passage through territory.

Motor vehicle tax under a provision requiring vehicles to be "kept" in the State applies only where there is stationariness, retention, or continuance in the State; mere passage through the State in transit, even with incidental halts for rest or refreshment, is insufficient. The Court rejected a broader reading that would treat use of roads during transit as equivalent to keeping the vehicle in the State, because that would extend the levy beyond the statutory language and legislative intent. Vehicles only passing through Mysore in transit were therefore not taxable under the Act.

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Issues: Whether motor vehicles merely passing through the territory of the State of Mysore in transit to another State were "kept" in the State within the meaning of Section 3(1) and Section 3(2) of the Mysore Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1957, so as to attract the levy of motor vehicle tax.

Analysis: The charging provision required not merely that a vehicle be suitable for use on roads, but also that it be kept in the State. The expression "kept" was construed in its ordinary sense, in context, as importing an element of stationariness, retention, or continuance in the State. A vehicle in mere transit, even if it travels through the State for a considerable distance or makes incidental halts for rest or refreshment, does not satisfy that requirement. The Court rejected the broader construction that mere use of roads during transit would amount to keeping, as that would extend the levy beyond the legislative intent. Support was drawn from English authorities construing similar language.

Conclusion: Vehicles that only pass through Mysore in the course of transit are not "kept" in the State and are therefore not taxable under Section 3 of the Act; the demand for tax failed.

Ratio Decidendi: For a vehicle tax provision requiring vehicles to be "kept" in the State, mere passage through the State in transit, even with incidental halts, is insufficient; the statutory expression requires some degree of stationariness or continuance in the State.

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