2006 (3) TMI 706

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....28) of the Motor Vehicles Act, the case of the respondents is that all the three vehicles are motor vehicles of Tata make, though equipped with machinery and fittings for tree trimming and repair of electric line at high altitude and for fire fighting and therefore, entry tax was payable. Having failed to file the returns and pay the tax, the petitioner was assessable for tax and penalty, is the case of the respondents. In order to appreciate various contentions, the nature and function of the various items have to be gone into. The petitioner has produced photographs of all the three items marked as exhibits P2, P3 and P4 and it is clear from the same that all the three are essentially trucks of Tata make fitted with various equipment. Th....

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....n the exclusion clause of the definition because the vehicles are of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises. It is seen from the photographs produced that the vehicles are ordinary Tata trucks fitted with the equipments referred above. Fire tenders are normally operated on road and are nothing but trucks fitted with fire fighting equipment with storage facility, whether it is chemical or water. The size and dimensions of the fire fighting equipment do not make it anyway abnormal affecting its use on roads. The third item, namely, tower wagon and tree-trimming vehicle also can be used even on the road because even though the attachment to it is high, it can be folded and the height reduced within ....

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....refore, this contention is also rejected. The next contention raised by counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner is a Central Government undertaking and so much so, tax cannot be demanded in respect of the motor vehicle as provided under second proviso to section 3(1) of the Entry Tax Act. I find the exemption provided under the above referred proviso is only for the property of Central Government and for items used exclusively for the purpose relating to defence of India. The petitioner is only a public sector undertaking and the benefit of exemption provided under the proviso does not extend to property of public sector undertakings. The petitioner is only engaged in generation and distribution of electricity from thermal power ....

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.... of the vehicle. The equipment fitted to the three vehicles involved are not accessories but are independent machinery designed for specific purpose which have nothing to do with normal use of the vehicle. In fact, those machinery and equipment are independently usable and those are attached to vehicles only to make it mobile and the purpose of the vehicle is essentially to transport the equipment for making the service mobile and to reach it at the required site. Since the attachments are not accessories, there is no scope for adding the value of machinery and equipments to the purchase value for the purpose of assessment and demand of entry tax. On the whole, I feel the value of everything except the chassis and the cabin should be delet....