The petitioner, who purchased a Corolla Altis vehicle bearing Registration No.KL-42-K-4555, has approached this Court aggrieved by the demand for differential one time tax from him in respect of the said vehicle, for the period commencing from the date of purchase of the vehicle by him till the expiry of the 15 year period from the date of initial registration of the vehicle. The demand against the petitioner is in a sum of Rs.1,02,070/-. It is not in dispute that the said amount has been paid by the petitioner under protest during the pendency of this Writ Petition. In the Writ Petition, it is the case of the petitioner that the one time tax in respect of the vehicle was discharged in terms of the second proviso to Section 3(1) at the rate of 6% as applicable to tourist motor cabs having capacity below 1500 CC and having purchase value upto Rs.10 lakhs. Apparently, the original purchaser of the vehicle had registered the same as a tourist motor cab and paid the one time tax at the rate of 6% of the purchase value of the vehicle, as applicable to tourist motor cabs. Thereafter, and after using it for three years, the vehicle was sold to the petitioner who, admittedly, is not using the vehicle as a tourist motor cab. It is nevertheless the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that, notwithstanding the fact that the petitioner has not used the vehicle as a tourist motor cab, the levy of one time tax can only be in respect of a new vehicle and, inasmuch as what the petitioner purchased was a used vehicle, the differential tax cannot be levied from the petitioner. Alternatively, it is contended that even if a differential tax is to be collected, it cannot be based on the original price of the vehicle, but should be on a depreciated price considering the earlier use to which the vehicle was put.
