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Judgment
S.R. Krishna Kumar, J
In this petition, petitioner has sought for the following reliefs:
(i) Quash the notice in case of dues on Motor Vehicles dated 14.11.2022 bearing Number Nil issued in Form No.E-1 marked under Annexure ‘B’ by issue of a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ order or direction and
(ii) Direct the respondent to accept the current tax for the period 01.12.2022 onwards in respect of motor vehicle KA-55-AA-4996 and pray for renewal of fitness certificate and grant such other reliefs, in the interest of justice and equity.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the respondent and perused the material on record.
In addition to reiterating the various contentions urged in the memorandum of petition and referring to the various documents produced, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that it is the grievance of the petitioner that the impugned notice at Annexure – B dated 14.11.2022 calling upon the petitioner to pay a sum of Rs.5,69,250/- towards arrears of tax and amount of Rs.1,03,397/- as penalty, is illegal, arbitrary and vitiated inasmuch as no prior notice was issued nor any proceedings were conducted by the respondent and hence, the same deserves to be quashed by this Court in the present petition.
Per contra, learned counsel for the respondent submits that there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.
Though several contentions have been urged by both sides in support of their respective claims, without expressing any opinion on the merits / demerits of the rivals contentions, I deem it just and appropriate to direct that Annexure – B to be treated / considered as a Show Cause Notice and by reserving liberty in favour of the petitioner to submit a reply along with all relevant documents to the said Show Cause Notice, which shall be considered by the respondent, who will proceed to pass appropriate orders in accordance with law.
In the result, I pass the following:
ORDER
(i) Petition is disposed of.
(ii) Impugned notice at Annexure – B is directed to be treated / construed as a Show Cause Notice in terms of the provisions of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1957.
(iii) Liberty is reserved in favour of the petitioner to submit his response / reply along with documents to the aforesaid notice at Annexure – B within a period of two weeks from today. Upon receipt of such reply and documents submitted by the petitioner, the respondent shall proceed to pass appropriate orders within 10 days thereafter in accordance with law.
(iv) Meanwhile, without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties, petitioner is hereby permitted to pay current year’s taxes to the respondent, who shall receive the same without prejudice to its claim against the petitioner.