Ardeep Kumar Batta vs State Of Haryana And Others

,,

Avneesh Jhingan, J",,

This petition has been filed for quashing a Challan dated 27.05.2017 (Annexure P-7) and for release of the vehicle impounded by the respondents.,,

The respondents are the State of Haryana; Transport Commissioner, Haryana; and the Challaning Officer of the State Transport Authority, Charkhi",,

Dadri.,,

The petitioner is the owner of a tourist bus bearing registration No. RJ01-PA/1673. He provides transport services for carriage of passengers. The,,

bus was checked on 27.05.2017 at Rohad (Haryana). Finding that the bus was plying in the State of Haryana without payment of motor vehicle tax,",,

respondent No.3 issued the challan and impounded the vehicle.,,

The grievance raised in the present petition is that the penalty has been imposed in the Challan itself without providing any opportunity of hearing.,,

Before proceeding further, we may quote Sections 2 (1) (a), (c), (j) (k), 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, 18 and 22 of the Haryana Motor Vehicles Taxation Act,",,

2016 (for short, `the Act') in so far as they are relevant :-",,

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -",,

(a) “appellate authority†means an authority constituted by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of this",,

Act;,,

(c) “licensing officerâ€​ means an officer appointed by the State Government for the purposes of this Act;,,

(j) “taxâ€​ means the tax leviable under this Act;,,

(k) “tax collection point†means a facility set up at the border of the State or at any other place in the State for receiving payment of tax made,,

under this Act.,,

(1) Subject to other provisions of this Act, there shall be levied and collected a tax on all motor vehicles used or kept for use in the State, at such",,

rates and penalties, as may be specified by the State Government, by notification, from time to time :",,

(3) No motor vehicle shall be used or kept for use in the State unless the tax levied under section 3 has been paid in respect of such vehicle.,,

The licensing officer may direct a notice to be served upon the owner requiring him to fill up and sign a declaration, to be endorsed with such notice,",,

stating that owner is liable to the payment of tax and to pay the tax to which he appears by such declaration to be liable, to the person named therein",,

before the expiry of fourteen days from the date of service of such notice.,,

(1) Where the tax due in respect of any motor vehicle has not been paid by the owner, within the specified time, then in addition to payment of the",,

tax due, he shall also be liable to pay penalty, at such rate, as may be specified in the notification issued under section 3 : Provided that the total",,

amount of penalty shall not exceed twice the amount of tax due where a one-time tax is payable and five times the amount of tax due for a year,,

where the tax is payable on any other basis.,,

(2) Where the owner of a motor vehicle fails to pay the tax due under section 3 or the penalty under sub-section (1), he shall in addition to the amount",,

of tax and penalty, be liable to pay simple interest on the amount of tax due and penalty, at the rate of one and half percent per month, from the date",,

immediately following the last date for the submission of declaration as provided in section 4 or from the date specified in the order passed by the,,

licensing officer imposing the penalty, or, if no period is specified in the order then from the 15th day from the date of the order, as the case may be, to",,

the time till the default continues.,,

(1) Any officer specified by the State Government may require the driver of a motor vehicle in any public place to stop that motor vehicle and,,

cause it to remain stationary so long as may reasonably be necessary for the purpose of satisfying himself that the tax has been duly paid in respect of,,

such motor vehicle.,,

(2) The officer referred to in sub-section,,

(1) may use such force or cause to use such force and take such steps or cause to take steps, to stop the motor vehicle, as may be necessary and",,

may search the motor vehicle for the purpose of satisfying himself.,,

(3) Any officer referred to in sub-section,,

(1) may for the purpose of this Act, enter at any time between sunrise and sunset, in any premises, where he has reason to believe that a motor",,

vehicle is kept in contravention of the provisions of this Act.,,

Without prejudice to the provisions of sections 10 and 14, where any tax, penalty, interest or fine in respect of any motor vehicle has not been paid,",,

the officer under section 13 may seize and detain such motor vehicle and for this purpose take or cause to be taken such steps, as he may consider",,

necessary, for the temporary safe custody of the vehicle, until the tax, penalty or interest is paid.",,

(1) Any person aggrieved by an order relating to the assessment, imposition or recovery of the tax or penalty may, within a period of thirty days",,

from the date of such order, file an appeal to the appellate authority.",,

(2) Save as provided in sub-section (3), an order passed by the appellate authority shall be final and conclusive.",,

(3) The Transport Commissioner on his own motion or on receipt of an application from the owner, may call for the record of any proceedings which",,

are pending before, or have been disposed of by the licensing officer or the appellate authority for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or",,

propriety of such proceedings or order made therein and may pass such order in relation thereto, as he may think fit.",,

(4) No order shall be passed under sub-section (3) which adversely affects any owner unless such owner has been given a reasonable opportunity of,,

Serial

Number",Categories of motor vehicle,Rate of tax

1,2,3

3.,(B) Vehicles of other States when entering and plying in Haryana,

,"(iv) Any other vehicle registered in any other State but not covered under category (i), (ii) and (iii) above including

camper van/caravan, luxury ACT buses like Volvo, Merecedez etc.","Rs. 3000 per

single journey.

Even if the authorities do not inform the vehicle owner of his right to have the issue of penalty adjudicated upon by the Licensing Officer, he would",,

be entitled to apply to the Licensing Officer himself.,,

The contention that the impugned action was contrary to the rules of natural justice is, therefore, rejected.",,

Mr. Goyal, relying upon section 10, contended that no time has been specified for the payment of tax and, therefore, the petitioner cannot be made",,

liable to pay penalty or interest.,,

The submission overlooks the notification under section 3. Serial No. 3 (B) of the notification expressly stipulates the rates of tax payable in,,

respect of “Vehicles of other States when entering and plying in Haryanaâ€. (emphasis supplied). Thus, the tax is payable by the vehicle when",,

entering Haryana itself. Serial No. 3 (B) (iv) required the petitioner's vehicle to pay Rs. 3,000/- per single journey. The notification does not permit the",,

owner of a vehicle registered in another State to ply the vehicle in Haryana without paying tax “when entering ..... Haryanaâ€. The submission that,,

the time for payment of tax is not stipulated, as required by section 10, is therefore rejected.",,

Lastly, it was contended by Mr. Goyal that the impugned challan is entirely mis-conceived. The contention is based on the following two sentences",,

in the challan :-,,

“You are directed to appear before the Secretary, RTA Jhajjar at Bahadurgarh on dated 29.05.11 (sic 29.05.17) for compounding of Challan.",,

The offence is compounded for Rs. 53000 (in words) ________________ on the request of the owner or incharge of the vehicle.â€​,,

Relying upon section 22, Mr. Goyal submitted that there could be no question of compounding the offence till the institution of prosecution against the",,

petitioner.,,

We will assume and it may well be, that these sentences related to section 22. In other words, the respondents in fact drew the attention of the",,

petitioner to the fact that he could compound the offence and thereby avert a prosecution even before the institution thereof. That, however, would",,

make no difference in view of what we have already held viz. that the scheme of the Act and in particular sections 10, 13 and 15 thereof require the",,

officer appointed under section 13 to seize and detain the vehicle till the payment of tax, penalty and interest. The officer did so. He, thereafter, by the",,

challan directed the petitioner to appear for compounding the offence. The tax, penalty and interest is stipulated in the notification. He was required to",,

do no more. It is for the owner of the vehicle, i.e. the petitioner in the present case, to make an application for the release of the vehicle. The owner at",,

this stage would be entitled to a decision from the officer. The rules of natural justice must at this stage be followed. In this manner, the rights and",,

interest of the owner of the vehicle and the revenue would be protected.,,

The petition is, therefore, dismissed with liberty to the petitioner to appear before the Licensing Officer i.e. the State Transport Authority and to",,

seek the release of the vehicle. The application, if made, shall be determined in accordance with law and as expeditiously as possible. The petitioner",,

shall be entitled to pay the amount demanded under protest to seek the early release of the vehicle and thereafter seek the refund of the amount,,

deposited. The arguments of the parties on merits are kept open.,,