Case Law Details
Tarachand Logistics Solutions Limited Vs State of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
Andhra Pradesh High Court held that motor vehicles deployed to Central Deposit Yard Premises are not subject to Motor Vehicle Tax and are entitled to get exemption as contemplated in Motor Vehicles Act.
Facts- The petitioner is a company registered under Companies Act 1956, engaged in the business of providing logistics support since 1985 and is diversified into deployment of heavy lifting equipment required for infrastructure and construction projects. The petitioner company was awarded with the Contract dated 17.11.2020 for a period of 4.5 years for Handling and storage of Iron and Steel Material at Central Dispatch Yard situated inside of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Andhra Pradesh, a corporate entity of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).
Accordingly, the petitioner company deployed 36 vehicles. Prior to the aforesaid contract, the petitioner has paid the Motor Vehicle Tax in respect of the above referred vehicles to the concerned authorities and attained Fitness Certificate, Insurance Certificate and Pollution Under Control Certificate in accordance with the statutory provisions.
Upon allotment of the contract, the motor vehicles in batches were deployed to Central Deposit Yard premises and with effect from 01-04-2021 all the motor vehicles stopped plying upon the public roads and were thereafter used exclusively for the purpose of the contract and were to only ply inside the Central Deposit Yard premises and not leave the compound at any period of time till the end of contract for any other use. Therefore, these vehicles were not used or kept for use on any of the roads maintained by the State of Andhra Pradesh. The Central Deposit Yard was enclosed by compound walls and ingress and egress is regulated through the gates managed by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
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