Bengaluru: Terming the amendment in the KMVT Act as unconstitutional, the High Court on Friday dismissed the State government’s appeal of quashing of lifetime tax on vehicles registered outside Karnataka.
The bench including Justice Jayant Patel and B V Nagarathna ruled that government should not collect tax from non-Karnataka registered vehicles for up to 12 months.
“A vehicle which is registered outside the state of Karnataka and is plying on the state roads for a period from 31 days up to 12 months cannot be subjected to tax,” the judgment read.
The state government had amended KMVT Act in 2014-2015 to regulate vehicles registered outside Karnataka and aimed to increase its revenue by collecting lifetime tax by inserting section 3(1) of the Act on all such vehicles which were plying on its roads beyond 30 days.
The bench stated that insertion of non-obstante (notwithstanding) Section 3(1) of the KMVT Act was against the Supreme Court order in Mahesh Gandhi vs Deputy Commissioner for Transport, Belagavi. The bench also struck down Section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which talks about assignment of new registration mark on removal to another state.
They divisional bench dismissed the appeal of the State government, Transport Commissioner and RTO who had issued notices. Jagadev Biradar from Pune and others had approached the High Court challenging the KMVT (Amendment) Act, 2014.
