SAINIK MOTORS JODHPUR Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution. The petitioners, who are seven in number, challenge as unconstitutional and ultra vires certain provisions of the Rajasthan Passengers and Goods Taxation Act, 1959, the Rajasthan Passengers and Goods Taxation Rules, 1959, and a notification issued under R. 8. For brevity, we will refer to them in this judgment, as the Act, the Rules and the notification respectively. The first petitioner is a registered firm, petitioners Nos. 2 to 6 are the partners of that firm, and petitioner No. 7 is the General Manager of the firm. Petitioner No. 7 holds a public carrier permit for the whole of Rajasthan in his individual name. The petitioners also hold 59 stage carriage permits from the Regional Transport Authority, Jodhpur, for diverse routes over roads which have different kinds of surfaces, some being sandy or katcha and others, metalled, tarred, etc.

(2.) The Act was passed in 1959 for levying a tax on passengers and goods carried by road in motor vehicles. The power to enact the Act purports to be derived from Entry No. 56 of the State List in Sch. VII to the Constitution, which reads:

(3.) Before we deal with the case further, it is convenient to see how the Act is constructed and what the Rules and the notification provide. The Act, which consists of 21 sections, came into force in the whole of the State of Rajasthan on May 1,1959. The Act contains the usual provisions to be found in all taxing statutes about appeals, revision, offences and penalties, power to compound offences, recovery of tax as arrears of land revenue, bar of proceedings, exclusion of the jurisdiction of Civil Courts, refunds and power to make rules, to which detailed reference need not be made. We are only concerned with the imposition of the tax and the mode of its recovery, and will refer to those provisions which are relevant. Section 3 is the charging section, and S. 4 deals with the method of collection of the tax. Since these sections are the main subject of attack, we quote them in full: