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1970 DIGILAW 41 (GUJ)

PANALAL BALABHAI ZAVERI v. STATE

1970-03-30

B.J.DIVAN

body1970
B. J. DIVAN, J. ( 1 ) THIS Special Civil Application raises an interesting question regarding the interpretation of S. 13 of the Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act 1958 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ). The petitioner herein is the owner of a tractor and a trailer; the tractor bears registration No. G J A 4240 and the trailer bears registration No. G T A 9788. It is the contention of the petitioner that the tractor and the trailer are designed and were used solely for agricultural operations on the farm and farm-land and he contends that as such they are exempt from the payment of any tax under the provisions of the Act. It is further the case of the petitioner that he had applied for and was granted exemption for a further period of one year along with the registration books but he did not receive any reply from the R. T. O. No decision of the R. T. O. was communicated to him nor was he informed that his application for exemption was refuse do Under the belief that the period of exemption must have been extended as usual the petitioner went on using these two motor vehicles but on or about August 21 1964 he received an order from the R. T. O. dated August 18 1964 directing the appellant to pay tax and penalty in respect of these two vehicles for the period April 1 1962 to September 30 1964 and the total amount according to that demand notice came to Rs. 8937. 00. Against this order or demand notice from the R. T. O. the petitioner preferred an appeal to the State Transport Officer. By the Order dated December 9 1964 the State Transport Officer rejected the contention of the petitioner that the two vehicles were totally exempt from tax under the Act but he remanded the matter to the Regional Transport Officer for consideration of the question whether during the relevant period the vehicles had been used solely for agricultural operations. By the Order dated December 9 1964 the State Transport Officer rejected the contention of the petitioner that the two vehicles were totally exempt from tax under the Act but he remanded the matter to the Regional Transport Officer for consideration of the question whether during the relevant period the vehicles had been used solely for agricultural operations. The Regional Transport Officer was directed that in the event of the petitioner producing the necessary proof the two vehicles were to be taxed on the footing of motor vehicles used for agricultural operations and on that basis the amount of tax and the penalty if any was to be assessed and taxed and a new demand notice on that footing was directed to be Issued. After the remand the necessary proof was produced by the petitioner before the Regional Transport Officer and ultimately by the Order dated March 24 1965 the petitioner was informed that he was liable to pay 50% of the annual rate prescribed under the Act and on that footing from April 1 1962 to March 31 1963 and thereafter from April 1 1963 to March 31 1964 the petitioner was required to pay the aggregate amount of Rs. 2883. 00. The present petition has therefore been filed challenging the order Annexure B to the petition being the order passed by the appellate authority namely the State Transport Officer; and also the order passed after remand on March 24 1965 ( 2 ) SEC. 13 of the Act under which exemption has been claimed by the petitioner is in these terms:-13 (1) All motor vehicles designed and used solely for agricultural operations on farms or farm lands shall be exempt from the payment of the tax. (2) The State Government may subject to the provisions of any rules made in that behalf by notification in the Official Gazette exempt either totally or partially any class of motor vehicles other than those falling under sub-sec (1) or any motor vehicles belonging to any class of persons from the payment of the tax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EXPLANATION:- For the purpose of this section the expression agricultural operation means tilling sowing harvesting crushing of agricultural produce or any other similar operation carried out for the purpose of agriculture but does not include the transportation of persons or materials for the purpose of agriculture or the transportation of agricultural produce. Mr. Zaveri on behalf of the petitioner contended before me that it has been found by the R. T. O. by his order dated March 24 1965 that the two vehicles in question had been used for agricultural purposes and he contended that since they were used for agricultural purpose and were not. according to the petitioner used for transportation of persons or materials these vehicles could be said to be used solely for agricultural operations within the meaning of sec. 13 (1 ). He therefore; contended that since these two motor vehicles were used solely for agricultural purposes on farm and farm lands they were totally exempt from the payment of the tax. This contention of Mr. Zaveri must be rejected because only those motor-vehicles that are designed and used solely for agricultural operations on farms and farm lands which are entitled to exemption under sub-sec. (1) of sec. 13. It is probably with this terminology of sec. 13 in mind that the petitioner in para 2 of the petition has stated that the two vehicles are designed and used solely for agricultural operations on his farm. In the affidavit-in-reply filed by the Director of Transport it has been denied that these vehicles of the petitioner are designed and used solely for agricultural operations on farm or farm lands as required by sec. 13 (1) of the Act. Mr. Zaveris contention was that mere use solely for agricultural operations on farm and farm lands entitles the vehicle to exemption under sec. 13 (1 ). Mr. Zaveris contention can be accepted only if the word and occurring between the words designed and used were to be read as or. From a grammatical construction of sec. 13 (1) it is clear that a motor vehicle for which exemption is claimed must be designed solely for agricultural operations on farm and farm-lands and must also be used solely for agricultural operations on farm and farmlands. From a grammatical construction of sec. 13 (1) it is clear that a motor vehicle for which exemption is claimed must be designed solely for agricultural operations on farm and farm-lands and must also be used solely for agricultural operations on farm and farmlands. As the section stands with the conjunctive and between the words designed and used it is obvious that both the conditions must be satisfied. ( 3 ) IN Maxwell on Interpretation of Statutes 12 Ed. (1969) at page 232 it has been pointed out:-IN ordinary usage and is conjunctive and or disjunctive. But to carry out the intention of the Legislature it may be necessary to read and in place of the conjunction or and vie versa. The Disabled Soldiers Act 1801 for example in speaking of property to be employed for the maintenance of sick and maimed soldiers referred to soldiers who were either sick or maimed and not only to those who were both. The expression local and public authorities in sec. 4 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1916 has been held by Winn J. not to mean authorities which are both local and public. . . but authorities which are either local or public. Mr. Zaveri relied upon the decision of the House of Lords in John G. Stein and Co. Ltd. v. OHanlon (1965) A. C. 890. In that case sec. 48 (1) of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 was considered by the House of Lords and the relevant section said:-IT shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to take with respect to every road and working place in the mine such steps by way of controlling movement of the strata in the mine and supporting the roof and sides of the road or working place as may be necessary for keeping the road or working place secure. Lord Reid interpreting this provision said that he could not suppose that it was intended that in every case the manager must both attempt to control movement of the strata and provide support. . . . . The natural meaning of the words of the section is that one or other of the prescribed methods must be adopted in every case. . . . . The natural meaning of the words of the section is that one or other of the prescribed methods must be adopted in every case. The normal rule of interpretation is to give full scope to the actual words used by the Legislature unless the literal interpretation is likely to lead to absurd results. ( 4 ) IN the instant case the word and appears to have been used by the Legislature as laying down two conditions and not alternative conditions. It could never have been the intention of the Legislature that any motor vehicle designed solely for agricultural use without its user as such should earn exemption from the tax under the Act because if the word and in this context were to be read as or then either of these two types of vehicles those designed for agricultural purpose and those used for agricultural purpose would be entitled to exemption under the Act. The Scheme of the Legislation seems to be to benefit agriculturists and that too agriculturists who utilize the motor vehicles for the purpose of tilling sowing harvesting or similar operations for the purpose of agriculture; but the transportation of agricultural produce is not included within the meaning of agricultural operations. Under these circumstances and particularly in the light of the Explanation to sec. 13 it is obvious that the word and occurring in sec. 13 (1) in the expression designed and used must be interpreted as conjunctive and not as disjunctive as contended for by Mr. Zaveri. It is clear that the a tractor by itself or a trailer by itself or the combination of a tractor and a trailer is not designed solely for agricultural operations. A tractor can be used for non-agricultural operations; so can a trailer and so can a tractor and trailer combination. In view of this it is obvious that neither the tractor nor the trailer belonging to the petitioner can fall under sec. 13 (1) of the Act and no exemption can be granted under sec. 13 (1) in respect of the tractor or the trailer. ( 5 ) IN this connection Mr. Zaveri relied upon the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in - In re. 13 (1) of the Act and no exemption can be granted under sec. 13 (1) in respect of the tractor or the trailer. ( 5 ) IN this connection Mr. Zaveri relied upon the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in - In re. Rayla Rama Rao A. I. R. 1961 A. P. 66 In that case Sanjeeva Row Nayudu J. sitting singly interpreted the provisions of some of the sections of the Motor Vehicles Act 1939 The provision of sec. 11a of the Motor Vehicles Taxation Act 1931 similar to sec. 13 (1) of the Act before me was also considered by the learned Judge. While considering the provision of the 1939 Act the learned Judge has considered the definitions of transport vehicle and A public service vehicle but apparently he has overlooked the definition of motor vehicle occurring in the Motor Vehicles Act 1939 A transport vehicle means a public service vehicle or a goods vehicle; and a public service vehicle means any motor vehicle used or adapted to be used for the carriage of passengers for hire or reward and includes a motor-cab contract carriage and stage carriage. A goods vehicle as defined in Cl. (8) of the same section means any motor vehicle constructed or adapted for use for the carriage of goods or any motor vehicle not so constructed or adapted when used for the carriage of goods solely or in addition to passengers. If the attention of S. R. Nayudu J. had been drawn to sec. 2 (18) of the Motor Vehicles Act which defines the words motor vehicle then it is obvious that the learned Judges reasoning would not be on the lines which appealed to him. Overlooking this aspect of the words motor vehicle Nayudu J. accepted the contention urged before him that a trailer does not come within the definition of goods vehicle. The argument was that a trailer does not move by itself. In view of the fact that the provisions of sec. 2 (18) were not considered in this Andhra Pradesh judgment with great respect I am unable to follow this decision or the reasoning in that decision. In that case it was held that the tractor-cum-trailer combination was exempt from taxation within the meaning of sec. In view of the fact that the provisions of sec. 2 (18) were not considered in this Andhra Pradesh judgment with great respect I am unable to follow this decision or the reasoning in that decision. In that case it was held that the tractor-cum-trailer combination was exempt from taxation within the meaning of sec. 11a of the 1931 Act and Nayadu J. held on the interpretation of the section before him as follows:-IN other words if the motor vehicle in question is used for transporting agricultural produce in addition to various other agricultural purposes such as those for which tractors are normally employed then obviously that vehicle would be exempt from taxation under sec. 11a of the Motor Vehicles Taxation Act. Apparently the Legislature intended to exempt from taxation all motor vehicles which are used solely for the purpose of agriculture. Then apparently it must have struck them that it may be contended later that any vehicle which is used merely for the purposes of carrying agricultural produce from the fields to the market would also claim exemption which obviously was not the intention of the Legislature. The language of sec. 11a which has been interpreted by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the above case was different from sec. 13 (1) of the Act before me inasmuch the words designed and used which are the governing words were not used in sec. 11a of the Statute before the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Under these circumstances that part of the judgment also cannot help Mr. Zaveri. ( 6 ) IN the affidavit-in-reply filed by the respondents it has been stated :-I say that the Government of Bombay by their Notification No. MTA/1758/11415-XII dated 5th Sept. 1958 issued under sec. 13 (2) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1958 exempted from payment of the tax tractors used for drawing trailers owned by agriculturists and used by them for transportation between the land cultivated by them personally and to the place of residence or godown or any market place or agriculture produce grown by them in connection with the cultivation of such land. By virtue of this Notification the said vehicles of the petitioner were exempted from payment of tax till 31st March 1962. Thereafter however the State of Gujarat issued a Notification No. LDF/mvt/9495/7373/f dated 31st March 1962. The said exemption was taken away with effect from 1st April 1962. By virtue of this Notification the said vehicles of the petitioner were exempted from payment of tax till 31st March 1962. Thereafter however the State of Gujarat issued a Notification No. LDF/mvt/9495/7373/f dated 31st March 1962. The said exemption was taken away with effect from 1st April 1962. The said Notification granting partial exemption to the extent of 50% of the tax was subsequently amended by Government Notification No. LDF/mvt/9453/f-9829 dated 27th April 1962 and another Notification being MTA/f dated t4th October 1963. The cumulative effect of granting partial exemption in respect of the tractors for drawing trailers by those belonging to agriculturists who were the registered owners thereof and used for the purposes referred to as aforesaid is to the extent mentioned below with effect from 1 April 1962. (a) to the extent of 623% if the registered laden weight of the vehicle does not of the vehicle does not exceed 3049 K. Gs. and (b) to the extent of 50% if the registered laden weight of the vehicle exceeds 3049 K. GS. It is therefore clear that the two vehicles of the petitioner are not entitled to exemption under sec. 13 (1) and his case would clearly fall under sec. 13 (2) and would be governed by the relevant Notifications in force at that time. ( 7 ) IN the result this Special Civil Application fails and is dismissed. There will be no order as to costs. Petition dismissed. .