Does vehicle taken to another State or UT need re-registration? Jammu and Kashmir High Court answers

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently clarified certain legal issues that arise when a vehicle registered in one State or Union Territory (UT) of India is transferred to another part of the country [Ishfaq Ahmad Tramboo v. UT of J&K and Others]..Justice Javed Iqbal Wani noted that a motor vehicle generally has to be registered only once upon the payment of a fee prescribed by the Central Government. Such registration is valid throughout India."A motor vehicle has to be registered once upon payment of fee prescribed by the Central government and such registration shall be valid throughout India and a vehicle once registered is not required to be registered elsewhere in India," the Court said. However, if the vehicle is taken to another State or UT (other than where it was registered) and it is plied there for a period exceeding 12 months, it would have to be assigned a new registration mark that is specific to that State or UT. In such a scenario, the concerned authority of the State/ UT (where the vehicle is transferred to) has to arrange for the transfer of the vehicle's registration from the records of the registering authority where the vehicle is initially/originally registered.In any case, the vehicle owner cannot be asked to pay a token tax or a road use tax again, merely because s/he wishes to use the vehicle in another State or UT. "The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 nowhere provides for re-registration of a vehicle and payment of fee upon such re-registration," the Court observed, in this regard. .The Court was hearing a petition by one Ishfaq Ahmad Tramboo who had challenged a demand to pay a token tax by the Regional Transport Officer (RTO), Kashmir as a condition for assigning a new registration mark to his Haryana-registered vehicle in Jammu and Kashmir.Tramboo (petitioner) had purchased the vehicle in 2015 and plied the same in Haryana, where it was registered. He brought the vehicle to the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir in October 2023. In order to ply the vehicle in the UT for more than 12 months, he approached the RTO Kashmir for assigning of a new registration mark to his vehicle.The RTO refused to re-register the vehicle without a deposit of 9 per cent of the vehicle's value. The deposit so demanded came to around ₹4 lakhs.Aggrieved, the petitioner moved to the High Court challenging the tax demand. He relied on a Division Bench judgement of the High Court in the case of Zahoor Ahmad Bhat and another V/s Government of J&K and Others, which had dealt with a similar controversy..Justice Wani noted that in the Zahoor Ahmad Bhat case, the Court had held that a tax under the J&K Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1957 cannot be levied on a vehicle that is has already been registered merely on a presumption that a vehicle registered outside the UT has remained in J&K for a period exceeding 12 months..The Court proceed to grant the petitioner relief and directed RTO Kashmir to assign the registration mark of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir to his vehicle without demanding the 9 per cent token tax."Let the needful be done by the respondents within four weeks time from the date of passing of this order. The respondents, however shall be at liberty to take up the matter with regard to the vehicle of the petitioner with the registering authority of the State of Haryana for refund of token tax paid on the vehicle in question for its payment towards the UT of J&K", the High Court added..Advocate Hakim Suhail Ishtiaq appeared for the petitioner.Government Advocate Jehangir Ahmad Dar appeared for the respondent- authorities. .[Read Judgment]