HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Friday made it clear that the transport and commercial vehicles coming from Andhra Pradesh to Telangana have to pay motor vehicle tax and that the amount be kept in a separate bank account till further orders in the case.
The bench comprising chief justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and justice P V Sanjay Kumar was passing comprehensive interim orders in a batch of writ petitions filed by several transport operators hailing from AP challenging the Telangana government’s decision imposing the motor vehicle tax on their vehicles when they enter into Telangana.
The petitioners earlier contended that as Hyderabad is the common capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, several people come from AP to Telangana frequently and thus vehicles coming from AP cannot be treated as ‘other state vehicles’.
Last week, the bench granted ad interim orders asking these operators to submit indemnity bond for the tax demanded while entering Telangana instead of paying tax.
On Friday, the bench modified the earlier interim orders which will be in force till the final judgment in the cases is delivered.
The bench asked the operators to pay the tax as demanded. The commissioner of transport, Telanagana, was directed to keep all these payments in a separate account. This amount will not be appropriated.