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THE 20TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1996 Present:

Hon'ble Mr. Justice K. Ramaswamy Hon'ble Mr. Justice G.B.Pattanaik Shanti Bhushan, Gopal Subramaniam, Sr.Advs., Sanjit Mohanty, H.Munshi, Ahip Sachthey and C.D.Singh, Advs. with them for the Petitioners P.N.Misra, Adv. for the Respondent J U D G M E N T The following Judgment of the Court was delivered:
PATTANAIK, J.
This Special Leave Petition is directed against the judgment of the Division Bench of the Orissa High Court dated 10.4.1996 passed in Original Jurisdiction case No. 811 of 1996. The question for consideration before the Orissa High Court was whether the Dumpers belonging to the petitioner Which are used within the mining areas are taxable as Motor Vehicle under the provisions of Orissa Motor Vehicles Taxation Act (referred to as "The Taxation Act"). The Orissa High Court relying upon the decision of this Court in the case of Central Coal Fields Ltd. vs. State of Orissa & Batch - 1992 Supl. (3) SCC 133 dismissed the Writ Petition. When the present application was listed for admission, the same was dismissed by us. But since Mr. Shanti Bhushan, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioners had re-argued the matter at length for a considerable period and contended that the decision of this Court in Central Coal Field's case (supra) has not application we had indicated that a reasoned order will follow and hence the reasons are being given for dismissing the Special Leave Petition.-
Under Section 3 of the Taxation Act, tax shall be levied on every motor vehicle used or kept for use within the State at the rate specified in the Schedule.
The expression "Motor Vehicle" means any wheeled conveyance which is propelled mechanically is a motor vehicle if it is adapted for use upon the road irrespective of whether the power of propulsion is transmitted thereto from an internal or external 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 Because of the latter part of the definition of Motor Vehicles, the petitioner had made out the case before the Orissa High Court that the dumpers in question are so heavy that they cannot move on the public road and, therefore, are not taxable under the Taxation Act but the High Court had negatived the said contention.
According to Mr. Shanti Bhushan, learned senior counsel, since the dimension of the dumpers in question exceed the permissible dimensions under the aforesaid Rules, there is an embargo for the dumpers to be used on public roads and as such, the vehicle cannot be taxed under the Taxation Act. We are unable to persuade ourselves to agree with the submission of the learned senior counsel for the petitioner. The crux of the question is whether the bumper is a motor vehicle and whether the vehicle attracts the liability of tax under Section 3 of the Taxation Act? The very question came up for consideration before this Court in the case of Central Coal Fields Ltd. vs. State of Orissa & batch (supra) wherein the various provisions of the Orissa Motor Vehicles Taxation Act was under consideration and the vehicles which had been taxed under the Taxation Act in the said case were dumpers and rockers. This Court after tracing the legislative history and the decisions of this Court commencing from Bolani ores Ltd. State of Orissa- (1974) 2 SCC 777, repelled argument of the mine owners who used dumpers within their mining premises to the effect that the dumpers are vehicles not adapted for use upon roads and, therefore, are outside the scope of the Taxation Act and held that these dumpers run on tyres, in marked contrast to chain plates like caterpillars or military tanks. It was also held that by the use of rubber tyres it is evident that they have been adapted for use on roads, which means they are suitable for being used on public roads and on the mere fact that they are required at places to run at a particular speed is not to detract from the position otherwise clear that they are adapted for use on roads. The very nature of these vehicles make it clear that they are not manufactured or adapted for use only in factories or enclosed premises. The mere fact that the Dumpers or Rockers as suggested are heavy and cannot move on the roads without damaging them is not to say that they are not suitable for use on roads. The word "adapted" in the provision was read as "suitable" in Bolani Ores' case by interpretation on the strength of the language in Entry 57, List II of the Constitution. On the fact situation, therefore, it must be held that Dumpers and Rockers are vehicles adapted or suitable for use on roads and being motor vehicles per se, were liable to taxation on the footing of their use or kept for use on public roads.
The various restrictions contained in Rules 92 and 93 referred to by Mr. Shanti Bhushan, learned senior counsel are intended to lay down the outer limits for the vehicles to be plied or, the public road. But that does not mean that the vehicles which are otherwise motor vehicles within the definition clause go out of the definition the moment they exceed the limit as provided in Rules 92 or 93 of the Rules. the taxability of dumpers again came up before this Court in the case of Union of India & Ors. vs. Chowgule & Co. Pvt. Ltd. & Ors.- 1992 Sup. (3) Supreme Court Cases 141. In this case an argument had been advanced that the dumpers are used only in mining operation within the mining area and are not actually used on roads nor are suitable for use on roads and, therefore, are not taxable. The Judicial Commissioner of Goa, Daman and Diu accepted the contention and allowed the appeal. Union of India had come up in appeal to this Court. This Court reversed the decision of the Judicial Commissioner of Goa, Daman and Diu and relying upon the earlier decision of this Court in Central Coal Fields Ltd. vs. State of Orissa - 1992 Suppl. (3) SCC 133 held the mere fact that dumpers were used solely on the premises of the owner or that they were in closed premises or permission of the authorities was needed to move them from one place to another or that they are not intended to be used or are incapable of being used for general purposes or that they have an unladen and laden capacity depending on their weight and size is of no consequence for dumpers are vehicles used for transport of goods and thus liable to pay a compensatory tax for the availability of roads for them to run upon commission.