- (1.) Civil Appeal Nos. 6466-6476 of 1995 : Under challenge by the State of Himachal Pradesh is the judgment of a Division Bench of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh delivered on writ petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution to challenge amendments to the Himachal Pradesh Passengers and Goods Taxation Act, 1955 and the Rules framed thereunder. The High Court allowed the writ petitions, coming to the conclusion that confining the payment of tax under the said Act to the mode of payment by lump sum made the provision invalid.
(2.) Section 3 of the said Act is the charging section. It provides, in so far as is relevant : "3. Levy of Tax.- (1) There shall be levied, charged and paid to the State Government a tax on all fares and freights in respect of all passengers carried and goods transported by motor vehicles at such rates not exceeding. . . . . . . . . . . as the Government may, by notification, direct." (Emphasis supplied)
(3.) Section 4 lays down the method of collection of the tax and states that the tax shall be collected by the owner of the motor vehicle and paid to the State Government in the prescribed manner. The proviso thereto, which is under challenge, reads : "Provided further that in case of motor vehicles (including the stage or contract carriages), other than those specified in the first proviso, in which the passengers are carried, the State Government may assess the tax . . . . . . . . . . at lump sum in the manner prescribed, taking into consideration the registered capacity of the vehicle and the distance travelled or to be travelled by such motor vehicles under a permit issued to such vehicles." (Emphasis supplied);