Uttarakhand High Court
Kumaon Stone Crusher vs State Of U.P. And on 11 December, 2012
Author: V.K. Bist
Bench: V.K. Bist
WPMS No. 2568/2012 Hon'ble V.K. Bist, J.
Mr. Piyush Garg, Advocate for the petitioner.
Mr. Paresh Tripathi, Addl. Chief Standing Counsel for the State.
Mr. V.K. Kaparwan, Advocate for respondent no.4.
Heard.
Learned counsel for the respondents pray for and are granted four weeks time to file counter affidavit. Two weeks time thereafter, is allowed to file rejoinder affidavit.
List thereafter.
CLMANo.13218/12 (Interim Relief Application) Also heard on stay application. By way of instant petition, the petitioner has sought a writ of mandamus directing the respondent nos. 1 to 3 to not to impose and collect transit fee on the transit/transportation of Bajri, Boulder and natural sand (river bed material RBM) by the petitioner from its authorized storage point to elsewhere, on which transit fee at the prescribed rate has already been paid at the time to purchase at the point of purchase.
According to the petitioner, the respondents are not allowing the petitioner to transport/transit the riverbed material without payment of transit fee from the storage point for the second time in respect of same material for which transit fee has already been paid at the point of purchase from Nandhaur River.
Learned counsel for the petitioner drew attention of this Court to the Division Bench judgment of this court dated 01.07.2004 passed in Writ Petition No. 1124 (M/B) of 2001 'M/s Kumaon Stone Crusher vs. State of U.P. and others' wherein this Court has held that transit fee cannot be realized twice.
The grievance of petitioner is that he had already paid the transit fees when the minor minerals including boulders were lifted from the purchase point to the storage places, but again without any authority of law, the respondent no. 2 is demanding transit fees for shifting of the said material from storage places to stone crusher.
Learned Brief Holder for the State has submitted that the State of Uttarakhand has preferred Special Leave Petition against the aforesaid Division Bench judgment of this court.
There appears no interim order of Hon'ble the Apex Court in this matter and the S.L.P. is pending. Since the order passed by the Division Bench of this court has not been set- aside or stayed as yet, therefore, prima-facie in view of the Division Bench judgment dated 01.07.2004 of this Court, if the petitioner had already paid transit fees when the boulders were lifted from the forest area to the storage places, in that event the respondents are directed not to charge transit fees, when the boulders are lifted from the storage point to the crusher unit.
Interim relief application stands disposed of.
(V.K. Bist, J.) 11.12.2012 NCM: