S. 2(h) Orissa Entry Tax Act | Tractor Trolley Not 'Motor Vehicle' & Not Amenable To Entry Tax: High Court

The Orissa High Court has held that tractor trailer/trolley is not a 'motor vehicle' as per Section 2(h) of the Orissa Entry Tax Act, 1999 ('OET Act') and therefore, not amenable to entry tax as per the said statute.

Interpreting the meaning of 'motor vehicle' as per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 ('MV Act') as well as the OET Act, the Division Bench of Justice Arindam Sinha and Justice Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo held:

“We have already seen definition given of 'motor vehicle' and 'vehicle' in section 2(28) (Act of 1988). Section 2(h) in the Entry Tax Act defines only motor vehicle to mean the same as defined in clause (28) of section 2 (Act of 1988) excluding, inter alia, tractor.”

Brief Background

The petitioner filed this revision petition challenging the findings arrived at by the Odisha Sales Tax Tribunal, Cuttack which held that the petitioner's product i.e. 'tractor trailer/trolley' is amenable to levy of entry tax.

After perusing the case records, the Court framed the following question to be answered in the revision case:

“Is a tractor trolley 'motor vehicle' for the purposes of Section 2(h) of the Orissa Entry tax Act, 1999 (OET Act) and is it amenable to entry tax?”

Contentions

RP Kar, Senior Counsel appearing for the revision-petitioner relied upon the judgment of a coordinate Bench of the Court in M/s. Laxmi Govinda Agro Industries v. State of Odisha where the same question of law arose and the answer was given in the negative.

The counsel appearing for the revenue department, however, contended that a 'tractor trailer' is not a 'tractor' per se and only a 'tractor' is excluded from the meaning of 'motor vehicle' under Section 2(h) of the OET Act. He further submitted that a 'trailer' is not excluded from the purview of the aforesaid provision.

Court's Findings

The Court referred to the definition of 'motor vehicle' under Section 2(h) of the OET Act which says that a motor vehicle means a motor vehicle as defined in Section 2(28) of the MV Act.

It further made a reference to Section 2(28) of the MV Act which reads as follows:

"motor vehicle or vehicle means any mechanically propelled vehicle adapted for use upon roads whether the power of propulsion is transmitted thereto from an external or internal source and includes a chassis to which a body has not been attached and a trailer; but does not include a vehicle running upon fixed rails or a vehicle of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises or a vehicle having less than four wheels fitted with engine capacity of not exceeding twenty-five cubic centimetres”

Upon examining the above two provisions, the Court underlined that the product manufactured by the petitioner does not have a motor and thus, it can at best be classified as 'vehicle' and not 'motor vehicle'. However, the OET Act only speaks about 'motor vehicle' and does not provide for any definition of 'vehicle'.

Accordingly, the judgment authored by Justice Sinha acceded to the contentions of the petitioner and also reiterated the view expressed by the coordinate Bench in M/s. Laxmi Govinda Agro Industries (supra). Resultantly, it was held that no entry tax can be levied from a tractor trailer/trolley.

Case Title: M/s. Aman Enterprises v. State of Odisha & Ors.

Case No: STREV Nos. 6 & 7 of 2022

Date of Judgment: September 11, 2024

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. R.P. Kar, Sr. Advocate; Mr. B.P. Mohanty, Advocate; Mr. S.A. Mohanty, Advocate

Counsel for the Respondents: Mr. A.K. Sharma, Adl. Govt. Advocate; Mr. S. Mishra, Advocate, Standing Counsel for Revenue

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ori) 75

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