The petitioner, who was the registered owner of a contract carriage bearing registration No.KL- 2/P 4, entered into an agreement with the 4th respondent for sale of the vehicle. It is the contention of the petitioner that pursuant to the said agreement the possession of the vehicle was transferred to the 4th respondent who subsequently defaulted in payment of the tax due to the respondents under the Kerala Motor Vehicle Taxation Act. The petitioner would submit that the vehicle was thereafter seized by the police and is presently in court custody. In the writ petition, the petitioner impugns Exts.P2 and P3 notices of demand from the respondents demanding tax under the Kerala Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, in respect of the vehicle in question, for the period from 01.01.2008 to 30.06.2008. The contention of the petitioner in the writ petition is essentially that, during the period in question, he did not have the control or possession of the vehicle and, since the vehicle was in court custody, there was no justification in the respondents proceeding against him for the realisation of tax dues for the period in question.
2. Counter affidavits have been filed on behalf of respondents 1 and 4. In the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the 1st respondent, the details of the dispute between the petitioner and the 4th respondent are narrated and it is pointed out that there was no 'G' Form that was filed by the petitioner, within time, to cover the period in question. In that view of the matter, since the petitioner was shown as the registered owner of the vehicle in the records before the registering authority, the authorities under the Motor Vehicle Taxation Act had chosen to proceed against the petitioner for realization of the tax dues. The counter affidavit filed by the 4th respondent goes into the details of the dispute between the petitioner and the 4th respondent.
3. I have heard Sri.O.D.Sivadas, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, Smt.Lilly.K.T, the learned Government Pleader appearing on behalf of the respondents 1 to 3 and Sri.D.Kishore, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the 4th respondent.
4. On a consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and also the submissions made across the Bar, I am of the view that this is a case where the demand of motor vehicle tax from the petitioner is for the period from 01.01.2008 to 30.06.2008. It is not in dispute that the petitioner is the registered owner of the vehicle. It is also not in dispute that during the period covered by the demand notice issued to the petitioner, the petitioner had not followed the statutory procedure for the purposes of claiming exemption in terms of Section 5 of the Kerala Motor Vehicle Taxation Act. He had not filed the necessary 'G' Form to cover the period in question. Under those circumstances, I cannot find fault with the actions taken by respondents 1 to 3 in proceeding against the petitioner who was shown as the registered owner of the vehicle, in the absence of any exemption available to him from discharging his liability to motor vehicle tax dues. The writ petition, in its challenge against Ext.P2 and P3 notices issued by the respondents, therefore fails and is accordingly dismissed.
Counsel for the petitioner would submit that, although he is made liable to discharge the motor vehicle tax dues in respect of the vehicle to the respondents, that cannot deprive him of his right to claim reimbursement of the same from the 4th respondent, who, according to the petitioner, is the person who is liable to pay tax to the Department for the period in question. Taking note of this submission, I make it clear that, if the petitioner is able to substantiate his contention, that during the period in question it was the 4th respondent who was liable to pay tax to the State Government in respect of the vehicle in question, before a competent court, then it shall be open to the petitioner to proceed against the 4th respondent for reimbursement of the tax amount paid by the petitioner.
A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR JUDGE mns