IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE ELEVENTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI ANIL R. DAVE AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION No.34231 of 1998 Between: Kilaru Gangadhara Rao, S/o. Kutumbaiah, R/o. H.No. 3-91, Penamalur, Krishna District. ...Petitioner And Deputy Transport Commissioner and Licensing Officer, Krishna at Vijayawada. ...Respondent Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to call for the records from the file of the respondent herein in connection with R.No.20409/A3/98 dated 9.11.1998 and quash the same by issuing a Writ of Certiorari or any other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper. Counsel for the Petitioner : Sri S. Arifullah Counsel for the respondent : Government Pleader for Transport The Court made the following: ORDER: (Per Anil R. Dave, C.J.) 1) Being aggrieved by a demand notice dated 9th November, 1998, the petitioner, a transport operator has filed this petition. 2) We have heard learned Advocate, Sri S. Arifullah, appearing for the petitioner and the learned Government Pleader for Transport appearing for the respondent. 3) By virtue of the impugned order, the petitioner has been called upon to pay a sum of Rs.1,10,968/- towards tax in respect of contract carriage bus No.TN- 01-N-231. 4) It is the case of the respondent that the petitioner had plied the vehicle from August, 1996 to October, 1996 without payment of tax. 5) It is the case of the petitioner that the vehicle in question had been sold by him on 30.10.1996. The said fact has not been disputed by the learned Government Pleader. 6) Upon perusal of the impugned order, it appears that in the month of August, 1996, the vehicle in question had been plied by the petitioner by giving the same on contract to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). For the period during which the vehicle had been plied by ONGC, a total tax of Rs.5, 250/- had been paid by the petitioner. However, in all, Rs.47,250/- have been demanded by the respondent from the petitioner. 7) It is the case of the respondent that Vigilance Department of the respondent had made enquiry from ONGC and a representative of ONGC had given information to the effect that the vehicle in question had been plied for more period than what had been stated by the petitioner and for which tax had been paid by the petitioner. 8) It could not be disputed by the learned Government Pleader that the material which had been gathered by the respondent from the officers of ONGC to show that, in fact, the vehicle in question had been plied by ONGC from August, 1996 to October, 1996 had not been shown to the petitioner. 9) Thus, it is not in dispute that the respondent had relied upon the material which was never shown to the petitioner. In fact, the petitioner has denied that the vehicle in question had been continuously plied by ONGC. 10) In the afore-stated circumstances, in our opinion, the impugned order has been passed in violation of the principles of natural justice, because without furnishing the material on which the respondent had relied upon, the impugned order dated 9th November, 1998 was passed and a sum of Rs.1,10,968/- has been demanded from the petitioner. 11) We, therefore, quash and set aside the impugned order. However, it would be open to the respondent to issue a fresh show cause notice and pass another order after hearing the petitioner and after furnishing copies of the documents on which the respondent would like to rely upon. 12) In view of the above order, the petition is allowed with no order as to costs. The impugned order is quashed and set aside with liberty to the respondent to pass a fresh order after hearing the petitioner. ANIL R. DAVE, C.J. 11th June, 2009 RAMESH RANGANATHAN, J. ……REGISTRAR To 1. The Regional Transport Officer, Kadapa. 2. Two copies to the Govt. Pleader for Transport, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 3. Two C.D. copies. ARS