Off-road construction equipment used only in enclosed premises falls outside motor vehicle tax and statutory definition.

Heavy earth moving machinery and similar construction equipment used only within factories or enclosed premises fall within the exclusion in Section 2(28) of the Motor Vehicles Act, because they are special-purpose off-road vehicles not ordinarily meant for road use. As a result, they are not "motor vehicles" for that Act. Since Entry 57 of List II permits motor vehicle tax only on vehicles suitable for use on roads, and Section 3(1) of the Gujarat Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 cannot enlarge that constitutional power, such equipment is outside the taxable field and not liable to road tax.

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Issues: (i) Whether heavy earth moving machinery and similar construction equipment vehicles used only within factory or enclosed premises are "motor vehicles" under Section 2(28) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. (ii) Whether such vehicles are liable to tax under Section 3(1) of the Gujarat Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 having regard to Entry 57 of List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Issue (i): Whether heavy earth moving machinery and similar construction equipment vehicles used only within factory or enclosed premises are "motor vehicles" under Section 2(28) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Analysis: The definition of "motor vehicle" is inclusive, but it expressly excludes a vehicle of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises. The vehicles in question were shown by the material on record to be off-road construction equipment designed for use inside industrial or enclosed premises, transported on trailers, and not ordinarily meant for road use. The statutory definition therefore accommodates such vehicles within the exclusionary part of Section 2(28).

Conclusion: The vehicles are excluded from the definition of "motor vehicle" for the purposes of the Act.

Issue (ii): Whether such vehicles are liable to tax under Section 3(1) of the Gujarat Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 having regard to Entry 57 of List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: The constitutional source of taxing power under Entry 57 extends only to vehicles suitable for use on roads. Although Section 3(1) of the Gujarat Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 levies tax on all motor vehicles used or kept for use in the State, that provision cannot be read to enlarge the State's power beyond the constitutional limit. The relevant schedule also did not provide a rate applicable to such construction equipment vehicles. In these circumstances, off-road vehicles used only within industrial premises were outside the taxable field.

Conclusion: The vehicles are not liable to road tax under the Gujarat Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958.

Final Conclusion: The impugned levy and the High Court's contrary view were unsustainable because the vehicles were special-purpose off-road equipment meant for enclosed premises and not vehicles suitable for road taxation.

Ratio Decidendi: A vehicle specially adapted for use only in a factory or enclosed premises is excluded from the statutory definition of motor vehicle, and a State can levy motor vehicle tax only on vehicles suitable for use on roads.

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