Transit fee recovery stayed only to the extent of Supreme Court interim directions, not by blanket restraint

Recovery of transit fee on coal under the U.P. Transit of Timber and Other Forest Produce Rules, 1978 was not restrained, because the writ petition raised no issue distinct from earlier cases on the same levy and the Supreme Court had already modified its interim arrangement on 29.10.2013. The court applied that modified interim direction, under which transit fee could be recovered at the rate in the third amendment to the Rules, subject to the outcome of the pending special leave petitions. Blanket relief against collection was therefore declined, and the petitioner received only the same interim protection already operating from the Supreme Court.

---

---

Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to restraint against levy and recovery of transit fee on coal under the U.P. Transit of Timber and Other Forest Produce Rules, 1978 in view of the existing Supreme Court interim order and the earlier High Court decisions on the same levy.

Analysis: The writ petition raised no fresh issue distinct from the questions already considered in the earlier batch of cases concerning the same transit fee. The order noticed that the Supreme Court had modified its interim arrangement on 29.10.2013 and had permitted recovery of transit fee for forest produce at the rate stipulated in the third amendment to the Rules, while keeping such recovery subject to the ultimate outcome of the pending special leave petitions. In that background, the prayer for complete restraint against collection of transit fee could not be accepted, and the petitioner was held entitled only to the same interim arrangement as granted by the Supreme Court.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not granted blanket relief against transit fee. The writ petition was disposed of by applying the Supreme Court's modified interim directions, thereby permitting recovery in accordance with the third amendment subject to the result of the pending proceedings.

---