Jharkhand High Court
Om Prakash vs The State Of Jharkhand on 25 February, 2020
Author: Rajesh Shankar
Bench: Rajesh Shankar
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
W.P.(C) No. 311 of 2020
1. Om Prakash
2. Balram Kumar Yadav ... ... Petitioners
Versus
1. The State of Jharkhand
2. The Transport Commissioner, Department of Transport, Government
of Jharkhand, Ranchi
3. The Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Hazaribagh
4. The District Transport Officer, Hazaribagh
5. The Motor Vehicle Inspector, Hazaribagh... ... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR
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For the Petitioners : Mr. Awnish Shankar, Advocate For the Respondent-State : Mr. Deepankar, AC to AG
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Order No. 04 Dated: 25.02.2020 The present writ petition has been filed for issuance of direction upon the respondent no. 2- the Transport Commissioner, Department of Transport, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi to accept the arrears of tax and penalty along with current tax with respect to the trucks bearing registration nos. JH02Y-0426 and JH02V-9338 respectively in view of Section 12 of the Jharkhand Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 2001 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act, 2001").
2. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioner no. 1 is a registered owner of the truck (heavy motor vehicle) bearing registration no. JH02Y-0426 which was registered in the office of the respondent no. 4 - the District Transport Officer, Hazaribagh on 27.02.2013. The petitioner no. 2 is also a registered owner of the truck (heavy motor vehicle) bearing registration no. JH02V-9338 which was registered in the office of the respondent no. 4 on 10.07.2012. The road tax of the said vehicles were duly paid till 26.11.2018 and 09.07.2018 respectively. However, due to mechanical breakdown of the said vehicles, the petitioners sustained financial loss and as such, could not pay the road tax for the period commencing from 27.11.2018 and 10.07.2018 respectively. As per web copy of the collection of road tax, the petitioner no. 1 has to deposit a sum of Rs. 77,832/- towards arrears of tax along with penalty for the period 2 27.11.2018 to 26.02.2020 whereas, the petitioner no. 2 has to deposit a sum of Rs. 90,844/- towards arrears of tax along with penalty for the period 10.07.2018 to 09.01.2020. The petitioners, however, with a view to ply the said vehicles preferred applications before the respondent no. 2 through registered posts dated 24.08.2019 and 29.08.2019 respectively in terms with Section 12 of the Act, 2001 for acceptance of arrears of tax with penalty. However, the respondent no. 2 has not passed any order on the said applications.
3. AC to AG appearing on behalf of the State respondents submits that according to the petitioners, the applications invoking Section 12 of the Act, 2001 were sent by them to the respondent no. 2 through registered posts, however, it is not clear as to whether the respondent no. 2 received the said applications.
4. Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the contents of the writ petition.
5. Section 12 of the Act, 2001 reads as under:
12. Refusal of acceptance of tax. - Subject to other provisions of this Act, the taxing officer shall not accept the tax or penalty, if any, in respect of a motor vehicle for the current period unless the arrears of taxes and penalties due in respect of the vehicle have been fully paid or settled.
[Provided that in case of outstanding amount arrears of tax and penalty Rs. 50,000/- (Rs. Fifty Thousand) for goods and passenger vehicles Rs. 10,000/- (Rs. Ten Thousand) for three wheelers and Rs. 25,000/- (Rs. Twenty Five Thousand) for light motor vehicles, an authority not below the rank of Transport Commissioner or an officer authorized by him may order to accept such outstanding amount with current tax in monthly installment, preferably within two months after receipt of application which shall not in any case be more than four installments and in such case a provisional tax token may be issued by the taxing authority.]
6. It would thus be evident that an officer not below the rank of Transport Commissioner or an officer authorized by him is empowered to take decision for acceptance of such outstanding amount of arrears and penalty with current tax in case of outstanding amount of arrears of tax and penalty of Rs. 50,000/- for goods and passenger vehicles, Rs. 10,000/- for three wheelers and Rs. 25,000/- for the light motor 3 vehicles. Since the arrears of tax and penalty against the petitioners' trucks are more than Rs. 50,000/- and the petitioners have claimed that they have made applications under Section 12 of the Act, 2001 before the respondent no. 2 through registered posts, I am of the view that the petitioners should file fresh applications invoking Section 12 of the Act, 2001 before the respondent no. 2. On receipt of the said applications, the respondent no. 2 shall take appropriate decision on the said applications of the petitioners, preferably within two months from the date of filing of the said applications.
7. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of with aforesaid observation and direction.
(Rajesh Shankar, J.) Manish