MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ordered the union and state governments to exempt a woman with a visual impairment from paying road tax and GST for a new car purchased by her. Justice PT Asha granted the relief to Carunia Seelavathi, who suffers from 100% disability, while hearing two petitions filed by her against the rejection of her application seeking tax exemptions.
According to Carunia, her request seeking concession in motor vehicle tax was rejected on the grounds that her vehicle would not undergo any change in its structure and thus cannot be considered as an ‘adapted vehicle’. The request for exemption of GST was also rejected with a one-line order stating that the scheme is only for applicants with locomotor disability.
Hearing the petitions, Justice Asha observed that Seelavathi is dependent on third parties for commuting and being a woman, travelling in taxis and auto-rickshaws in the present scenario is a scary choice for her. She also took note of the order passed by the Court of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities in a case in December 2020, which was relied upon by the petitioner.
In the 2020 order, the commission had held that persons suffering from complete blindness or hearing impairment can never drive a vehicle by themselves and had recommended amendments to the rules to give concession with reference to GST, Road Tax, Toll Tax etc to all these persons, the judge pointed out. The court directed the authority concerned to grant exemptions within a month.