Facts
Hindalco transports coal from outside Madhya Pradesh for use at its aluminium plant and captive power plant, obtaining transit or foreign passes under the Madhya Pradesh Transit (Forest Produce) Rules, 2000.
Source reference: para. 2–5A notification dated 5 March 2020 prescribed a fee of ₹57 per ton for coal.
Source reference: para. 2–5The State later demanded transit fees calculated at ₹400 per truck, relying on notifications dated 13 May 2021 and 30 July 2021.
Source reference: para. 2–5Hindalco challenged the demands, contending that the 2020 coal-specific rate remained in force, and sought refund or adjustment of the excess fees paid under protest.
Source reference: para. 2–5Issues
1. Whether the notification dated 30 July 2021, prescribing transit-pass fees for forest produce but excluding minerals, displaced the coal-specific rate prescribed by the notification dated 5 March 2020.
Source reference: para. 6–82. Whether the State could recover transit-pass fees for coal at ₹400 per truck despite the ₹57-per-ton rate prescribed in the 2020 notification.
Source reference: para. 7–9Law Applied
The Madhya Pradesh Transit (Forest Produce) Rules, 2000, particularly Rule 5, provide the basis for prescribing fees for transit passes by notification.
Source reference: para. 5The State also relied on Rule 18, although the Court did not identify it as the basis for its conclusion.
Source reference: para. 5The notification dated 5 March 2020 specifically prescribed a fee of ₹57 per ton for coal.
Source reference: para. 6–7The notification dated 30 July 2021 prescribed rates for forest produce “except minerals” and expressly superseded the notifications dated 4 October 2010 and 13 May 2021; it did not supersede the coal-specific notification dated 5 March 2020.
Source reference: para. 6–7Reasoning
The Court found that coal had been separately identified and assigned a specific transit-pass fee by the 5 March 2020 notification, which remained in force.
Source reference: para. 6–8The 30 July 2021 notification excluded minerals and superseded only the 2010 and 13 May 2021 notifications; it did not cancel or replace the 2020 coal-specific rate.
Source reference: para. 6–8Since the demands concerned a period after the 2020 notification took effect, the State could not apply the ₹400-per-truck rate to coal, and recovery at that rate was impermissible.
Source reference: para. 6–8Holding
The Court set aside the impugned demand orders and directed the respondents to refund or adjust the transit-pass fees paid by Hindalco, with the exercise to be completed within 90 days of production of a certified copy of the order.
The petition was allowed and disposed of.
Source reference: para. 9–11Original Court PDF
M/S Hindalco Industries Limited Through Its Vice President And HeadvsThe State Of Madhya Pradesh
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