TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2000 (9) TMI 1095
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....he facts in brief are taken from this petition. The case of the petitioner is that Larsen & Toubro Ltd. is a limited Company of international reputation. The construction division of this Company undertakes the execution of turn-key projects all over India and for execution of these projects, it holds various kinds of equipments. It is the further case of the petitioner that it has number of construction units located at various places and to carry out the construction projects at different places all over the country, the machineries/equipments owned by the petitioner are transferred from one construction unit to another construction unit depending upon the workload involved in the project at hand. These machines, according to the petitioner, were being transferred by the petitioner for the construction of work undertaken by the petitioner at Bharuch, Kachchh, Jamnagar and Mehsana and the same were detained by the office of the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) at Check Post, Songadh, Dist. Surat on the ground that these machines were in fact vehicles for which the registration was necessary and the taxes were required to be paid by the petitioner. On behalf of the petitioner, it w....
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....in the Gujarat Gazette Extraordinary dated 31st July 1995 whereby the tax at increased rates had been imposed on mobile cranes mounted on motor vehicles. The Division Bench after considering the provisions of the Bombay Motor Vehicles Act, 1958 and its charging Section 3 empowering the State Govt. to impose the tax on motor vehicles and the relevant entries in the Schedule in the light of the Supreme Court decisions in the cases of Bolani Ores v. State of Orissa reported in AIR 1975 SC 17, Goodyear India Ltd. v. Union of India and ors. reported in AIR 1997 SC 2038, Union of India and ors. v. Chowgule & Co. Pvt. Ltd. reported in AIR 1992 SC 1376, Regional Transport Officer-cum-Taxing Authority, Rourkela and ors. v. Steel Authority of India Ltd., reported in 1995 Supp (4) SCC 165, and the decision in the cases of M/s. Ishwardas & Co. and ors. v. State of Maharashtra and Anr. reported in AIR 1986 Bombay 348, Poomani v. Tuticorin Thermal Power Project reported in AIR 1990 Madras 372 and the case of Travancore Co. Ltd. v. State of Kerala and ors. reported in AIR 1980 SC 1547, has held as under: (i) The decision in the case of Bolani Ores (supra) was based on the unamended defin....
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....judgment hereinabove. The word, 'motor vehicle' or 'vehicle' as such has not been defined under the Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958, but Section 2(10) of the said Act provides that other words and expressions used, but not defined, in this Act, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Therefore, we straightway make reference to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Under Section 2(28) of the Motor Vehicles Act, the word 'motor vehicle' or 'vehicle' has been defined as under: "2(28) "motor vehicle" or "vehicle" means any mechanically propelled vehicle adapted for use upon roads whether the power of propulsion is transmitted thereto from an external or internal source and includes a chassis to which a body has not been attached and a trailer, but does not include a vehicle running upon fixed rails or a vehicle of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises or a vehicle having less than four wheels fitted with engine capacity of not exceeding twenty five cubic centimeters." This Section, therefore, provides as to what is meant to be a motor vehicle or vehicle an....
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....porated in the Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 by virtue of the provisions of Section 2(10) of the Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 to which the reference has already been made hereinabove. 6. It was pointed out by Mr. Shukla, learned AGP that Chapter 4 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for registration of motor vehicles and while Section 39 provides for the necessity of registration, Section 40 provides for registration where to be made, and, Section 41 provides for registration, how to be made. Sub-section (4) of Section 41 of the Motor Vehicles Act provides that in addition to the other particulars required to be included in the certificate of registration, it shall also specify the type of motor vehicle, being a type as the Central Government may, having regard to the design, construction and use of the motor vehicle, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify and it has been submitted by Mr. Shukla, learned AGP that in exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section (4) of Section 41 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, it has specified the types vide S.O.436(E) dated 12th June 1989 under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 for the purpose of Sub-section (....
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....he crane mounted vehicle has not been included either as a transport vehicle or as a non-transport vehicle. Learned AGP has submitted that the exemption under Rules 60 and 176 of the Gujarat Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 has been withdrawn by the notifications issued in April 2000 and July 2000. 7. (a) Crane is a machine for moving heavy objects both vertically and horizontally. Cranes range in capacity from a few hundred pounds to several hundred tons; motive power may be furnished by hand, by steam or internal combustion engines, or by electric motors. In form, cranes are classified as jib, derrik, or bridge. A jib crane carries a horizontal jib or beam at the top of a vertical pillar. Horizontal motion of the load is obtained by rotation of the jib or the entire crane or by carrying the hoisting tackle over a movable trolley running on the beam. The derrik crane, or derrik, is a cartilever design and consists of a boom, hinged at the base to the bottom of a vertical mast and supported at the tip by tackle from the top of the mast; the mast is braced or counterweighted to keep it from collapsing toward the boom. Horizontal motion is obtained by rotating the derrik and by luffing,....
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....urse of dictation of the order, learned AGP Mr. Shukla referred to a notification dated 4th April 2000 issued by the Home Department of the Govt. of Gujarat in exercise of the powers under Section 13(2) of the Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 and yet another notification dated 28th July 2000 issued by the Ministry of Surface Transport of the Govt. of India and the xerox copies of the same were produced. Copies of these notifications were also made available to the learned Counsel for the petitioners and with reference to the notification dated 28th July 2000, some written submissions dated 6th Oct. 2000 have also been filed by Mr. Kapadia, learned Counsel for the petitioners. The notification dated 4th April 2000 as has been issued by the Govt. of Gujarat speaks of exemption only with regard to the passenger cars and motor cycles and that too, for the quarter in respect of which a corresponding tax on the vehicle has been paid in any other State or Union Territory. It is therefore, clear that none of these vehicles in question are exempted from payment of tax under Section 13 of the Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958. Through this notification dated 28th July 2000, the Central ....
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....cles or vehicles as such and hence, are liable to pay the tax. 10. On behalf of the petitioners, it has been pointed out by Mr.Kapadia that this notification dated 28th July 2000 has not been published in the Gazette and the same cannot be applied unless it is published in the Gazette. He has made a pointed reference to Rule 1(2) of this amendment in the Rules notified by notification dated 28th July 2000 that they shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Gazette. Mr.Shukla, learned AGP has produced the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Khand-III(I) to show that this notification No. GSR 642(E) dated 28th July 2000 has been published. In this view of the matter, this submission on behalf of the petitioners that these Rules have not come into force has no basis and is found to be factually incorrect. 11. In the light of the discussion as aforesaid and for the reasons given hereinabove, it cannot be held that any of these machines/vehicles in question are only used as the goods to be carried from one place to another place and that they are not covered by the definition of the motor vehicle or vehicle and it is clear that they are all non-trans....