JAIPRAKASH ASSOCIATES LTD. v. STATE OF M.P. AND ORS

Citation: [2008] 17 S.C.R. 1282

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: ARIJIT PASAYAT, S.H. KAPADIA

Case summary

JAIPRAKASH ASSOCIATES LTD. v. STATE OF M.P. AND ORS.pdf

Judgment text

[2008) 17 S. C. R. 1282 JAIPRAKASH ASSOCIATES LTD. v. STATE OF M. P. AND ORS. \. (Special Leave Petition (c) No. 14828 of 2008 Etc. ) DECEMBER 18, 2008 [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND S. H. KAPADIA, JJ. ] Constitution ofIndia, 1950: Articles 301 and 304, Seventh Schedule, List II, Entry 52- Entry Tax - Levy of, by concerned tstatute of State - Nature and legality of - Considering the importance ofissues relating to entry tax, Articles 301, 304 and Part XIII, questions referred to larger Bench. Jindal Stainless Ltd. (2) and Anr. v. State ofHaryana and Ors. (2006) 7 SCC 241; Atiabari Tea Co. Ltd. v. State ofAssam (1961 )1 SCR 809; Automobile Transport (Rajasthan) Ltd. v. State of Rajasthan (1963) 1 SCR 491; Khyerberi Tea Co. Ltd. v. State of Assam (1964) 5 SCR 975; Meenakshi v. State of . ,.. 'f' Karnataka (1984) Supp SCC 326; Boiani Ores Ltd. v. State of Orissa (1974) 2 SCC 777 and Kamaljeet Singh and Ors. v. Municipal Board, Pilkhwa and Ors. (1986) 4SCC174, referred to.

Case Law Reference: (2006) 1 sec 241 referred to Para 1 (1961 )1 SCR 809 referred to Para 1 (1963) 1 SCR 491 referred to Para 1 ""'. \ (1964) 5 SCR 975 referred to Para 1 f ..... (1984) Supp sec 326 referred to Para 1 (1974) 2 sec 111 referred to Para 1 (1986) 4 sec 174 referred to Para 1 CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Special Leave Petition (C) No. 14828 of 2008 Etc. V'v1TH \ SLP(C)Nos. 14829, 14875, 15273, 15274, 15286-15287, 15288-15289 · &15325, 15090, 15047, 15324, 15326, 15327, 15328, 15253of2008, 15330. 15329, 15331, 15335, 15337, 22342, 25378, 25498, 9227, 26571, 26572 of2008, SLP(C) No...... (CC:13563/2008) and SLP(C)...... (CC:13782/2008), 27606, I 26543, 26813, 26972of2008, SLP(C)... CC 15558-15567of2008, 27927of2008. VVITH SLP(C)No. 15078, 15605, 15742, 15819, 16837of2008. \l\/ITR Es S. L. P. (C)No. 16841, 18034, 18035&11187of2008. VVITH S. L. P. (C) Nos. 17408, 18066-18067, 18001, 18030 & 18582 of2008. \l\/ITH SLP(C)Nos.

18850, 18870, 18871, 19019, 19026, 19120, 19372, 19421, 19425, 19460, 19470, 19714, 19722, 19731, 19737, 19802,20068, 19873, 19876, 21127/2008 &21117-21125, 21506, 21509 &21510 of2008. VVITH C. A. No. 3453of2002, CAN. 8242of2003, 3455of2002, 3460of2002, 3456-3459of2002, 3469 of2002, 3461of2002,3467 of2002, 3468 of2002, 3465 of2002, 3466 of2002, 3462-3463of2002, 3454 of2002, 3470of2002, 8241 of2003, 8243 of2003, 8244 of2003, 8245 of2003, 8246 of2003, 8247 of 2003, 8248 of2003, 8249 of2003, 82. 50 of2003, 8251of2003,5858 of2002, 8252of2003, 3464of2002, 3381-3400of 1998, 4651of1998, 3592of1998, 918of1999, 4476 of 2000, W. P. (C) No. 574 of 2003, T. C. (C)No. 13/2004, C. A. Nos. 2608/2003, 4471/2000, 3314/2001, C. A. No. 5740/2002, 6331/2003, W. P(C)No. 512/2003, C. ANos. 2637/2003, C. A. No. 6383-6421/1997, 6436/1997, 6437-6440/1997, 6422-6435/1997, 276912000, 997-998/2004, SLP(C)No. 10003/ 2004, 10007/2004, 10156/2004, 10164/2004, 10167/2004, 10206/2004, 10381/ .

2004, 10391/2004, 10404/2004, 10417/2004, 10501/2004, 10563/2004, 10568/ 2004, 10571/2004, 11012/2004, 11271/2004, 11326/2004, 3144/2004, 3145/ 2004, 3146/2004, 4954/2004, 5141/2004, 5143/2004, 5144/2004, 5145/2004, 5147/2004, 5148/2004, 5149i2Q04, 5150/2004, 5151/2004, 5152/2004, 5153/ I 2004, 5156/2004, 5157/2004, 5158/2004, 5159/2004, 5160/2004, 516212004, 5163/2004, 5164/2004, 5165/2004, 5166/2004, 5167/2004, 5168/2004, 5169/ 2004, 5170/2004, 7658/2004, SLP(C)No. 9496/2004, 9569/2004, 9883/2004, 9891/2004, 9898/2004, 9904/2004, 9910/2004. VVITH SLP(C)No. 9911/2004, SLP(C)No. 9976/2004, SLP(C) No. 9993/2004, Sl,. P(C)No. 9998/2004, SLP(C)No. 9999/2004, SLP(C)No. 14380/2005, SLP(C)No. 10153/2004, C. A. No. 5385/2002, SLP(C)No.

691412007, 14819/2007, 14820/2007, 14821/2007, 14823/2007, 14824/2007, 14826/2007, 14828/2007, 14829/2007, 14832/2007, 14833/2007, 14835/2007, 14837/2007, 1483812007, ; 14839/2007, 14841/2007, 14842/2007, 14845/2007, 14846/2007, 14847/2007, 14830/2007, 10910/2004, 11266/2004SLP(C)No. 9054/2007, 1758912007, 17590/ 2007, 17905/2007, 17906/2007, 17907/2007, 1790812007, 17909/2007, 17910/ 2007, 17911/2007, 17913/2007, 17914/2007, 1791512007. 17916/2007, 17917/ 2007, 17918/2007, 1791912007, 17920/2007, 17921/2007, 1792212007, 17923/ 2007, 17924/2007, 17925/2007, 17926/2007, 17929/2007, 17930/2007, 17933/ 2007, 17934/2007, 17936/2007, 17937/2007, 17938/2007, 17939/2007, 17941/ 2007, 1794212007, 1794312007, 17944/2007.

17957/2007, 17959/2007, 17960/ 2007, 17961/2007, 1796212007, 17963/2007, 17964/2007, 17965/2007, 179721 2007, 17973/2007, 17974/2007, 17975/2007, 17976/2007, 17977/2007, 17978/ 2007, 17979/2007, 17980/2007, 17981/2007, 1798212007, 17983/2007, 17984/ 2007, 18036/2007, 18037/2007, 18038/2007,18039/2007, 18040/2007, 18041/ 2007, 1804212007, 18043/2007, 18044/2007, 18045/2007, 18046/2007, 18047/ 2007, 18048/2007, 18049/2007, 18050/2007, 18051/2007, 18053/2007, 18054/ 2007,18055/2007,18056/2007, 18057/2007, 18058/2007, 18059/2007, 18061/ 2007, 18062/2007, 18063/2007, 18064/2007, 18065/2007, 18066/2007,18067/ 2007, 18068/2007, 18069/2007, 18075/2007, SLP(C)No. 18073/2007, 18074/ 2007, 18076/2007, 18077/2007, 18078/2007, 18079/2007, 18080/2007, 180821 2007, 18087/2007, 1808812007, 18086/2007, 18085/2007, 18084/2007, 18083/ 2007, 18081/2007, 18090/2007, 18089/2007, 1809212007, 18091/2007, 19049/ 2007, 19050/2007,19051/2007,19052/2007.

19053/2007, 19055/2007,19057/ 2007,19059/2007,19060/2007,1906212007,19064/2007. 19066/2007, 19068/ 2007,19070/2007, 19071/2007, 1907212007, 19073/2007, 19074/200719076/ 2007, 19077/2007, 19113/2007, 19114/2007, 1909412007, 19095/2007, 19096/ 2007, 19099/2007, 19100/2007, 19101/2007, 1910212007, 19103/2007, 19104/ 2007, 19105/2007, 1910612007, 1910712007, 19110/2007,1910812007, 19111/ 2007, 16351/2007, 19505/2007, 19506/2007, 19507/2007.

19508/2007, 19510/ 2007, 1951112007, 1951212007, 19513/2007, 1951412007, 19515/2007, 19516/ 2007, 1951812007, 19543-19547/2007, 1952112007, 19522/2007, 19523-19528/ 2007,19529/2007, 19530/2007, 1953112007, 2052712007, 2052912007, 20559/ 2007, 21841/2007, 21843/2007, 21844/2007, 21845/2007, 21846/2007, 21847/ 2007, 21848/2007, 21849/2007, 21851/2007, 21864/2007, 21866/2007, 21867/ 2007, 21871-21904/2007, 21905/2007, 2190712007, 2190812007, 21909/2007, 2191012007, 15082-1508512007, 2295812007, 2294712007, 74212008, 74612008, 747/2008, 24934-25066/2007, 3230/2008, 3231/2008, 3233/2008, 3234/2008, 3236/2008, 3237/2008, 3238-3262/2008, 4008/2002, 5407/2008, 5408/2008, 14070/2007, 6148-6152/2008, 13889/2008, 14232-1425212008, 13327/2008, 15628/2008, 15629/2008, 15630/2008, 15631/2008, 1563212008, 15633/2008, 15655/2008, 15653/2008, 15656/2008, 15657/2008, 15659/2008, 15660/2008, 1565212008, 13806/2007, 17367/2008, 1736812008, 1736912008, 1737012008, 1737212008, 17373/2008, 17374/2008, 1737512008, 1737612008, 1737712008, 17267/08,17269/2008, 17271/2008, 17272/2008, 17274/2008, 17276/2008, 17279/2008, 17277/2008, 17280/2008, 17282/2008, 19049/2008, 4715/ 2008,18684-18714/2006.

18684-18714/2008, 18040/2008, 20089/2008, 185321 2008, 5041-5042/2008, 3471/2002, 10129/2004, 10133/2004, 10134/2004, 10154/2004, 10161/2004. ·"" WTH 1020712004, 10232/2004, 10366/2004, 1038212004, 10384/2004, 10385/ , / 2004, 1040212004, 10403/2004, 10407/2004, 10449/2004,10493/2004, 10495/ 2004,10497/2004, 10505/2004, 10539/2004, 10557/2004, 10566/2004, 10567/ 2004, 10569/2004, 10704/2004, 10706/2004, 10708/2004, 10736/2004, 10906/ 2004,10907/2004, 10908/2004,10909/2004, 10923/2004, 10929/2004, 10977/ 2004,10274/2004,1028112004,10320/2004,11328/2004, 11329/2004, 11370/ 8 2004, 4953/2004, 5139/2004, 5142/2004,5154/2004, 5155/2004, 9479/2004, 9832/2004, 9885/2004, 9893/2004, 9899/2004, 9901/2004, 9912/2004,9950/ 2004, 9964/2004, 9989/2004, 999112004, W. P(C)No. 66/2004,221/2004, 1101/ .. _ ~ 2007, 1288/2007, 15807/2007, 21404/2007, 21635/2007, 21855/2007, 15164/ 2008, 8053-8077/2008, 12959/2007,14454-14778/2008, 15643/2008. WTH 15647/2008, 10694/2007, 1274/2004.

11320/2004, 27442-27444/2008, 18360-18364/2008, 23075/2008 WTH 1956/2003 WTH 2633/2003, 2638/2003, 3720-3722/2003 ,SLP(C)... cc 15937-15943/ 2008(CC 15937-159436831of2008,7914of2008,8199of2008,8204of2008, 26377 of2008, 26593 of2008, 17892/2008, 1540512008, 15540/2008, 18344/ ,. ~ 2008, 18346/2008, 18354/2008, 18379/2008, 1885712008, 18865/2008, 19030/ 2008, 19867/2008, 126813/2008, 26543/2008, 29763/2008, 29764/2008. lndu Malhotra, Rajesh Kumar, Ranjit Kumar, Ravindra Shrivastava, Harish N. Salve, AK. Ganguli, H. N. Salve, Harish N. Salve, Dr. Debi Pal, Ravindra Shrivastava, Soli J. Sorabjee, Jayant Bhushan, Ravinder Narain, Meenakshi Grover, Sonu Bhatnagar, Ajay Aggarwal, Kanika Gamber, Mallika Joshi, Sudha Malla, Kamal Deep Dayal, Gayatri Goswami, Rajan Narain, Sharmila Upadhyay, Kavin Gulati, Mahesh Agarwal, "'· 't Rishi Agrawala, Gaurav Goel, E. C. Agrawala, Dayan Krishnan, Gautam Narayan, Mahfooz Nazki, Nikhil Nayyar, TVS. Raghavendra Sreyas, Ambuj Agrawal, Akshat Shrivastava, P.

P. Singh, lnderjeet Yadav, R. K. Sanghi, N. M. Sharma, Dhiksha Prasad, Rajesh Prasad Singh, P. P. Singh, Kunal Verma, Rajul Shrivastav, Akshat Shrivastava, Supriya Jain, K. Krishna Kumar, Anup Jain, Nisha Bagchi, B. Sunita Rao, Sujeeta Srivastava, Sanjay Grover, Abhishek Jaju, V. Madhukar, Sumit Ghosh, Jayendra Sarada, Rajeev Sharmna, Rudreshwar Singh, Kumar ' Ranjan, Kaushik Poddar, Gopal Jha, Tapesh Kumar Singh, Satish Kumar, Guunam Venkateswara Rao, Sunita Ojha, Vikas Mehta, Sunil Kumar Jain, B. V. Bairam Das, Manik Karanjawala, U. A. Rana, Abhishek K. Rao for Mis. Gagrat & Co. , S. S. Ray, Rakhi Ray, S. K. Verma, Kumud Lata Das, Kavin Gulati, Rashmi Singh, T. Mahipal, Subramonium Prasad, P. P. Singh, Kunal Verma, Rajul Shrivastav, Akshat Shrivastava, Supriya Jain, K. Krishna Kumar, Anup Jain, A. S. Bhasme, Manali Singhal, Kshatrshal Raj,. Santosh Sachin, Abhijat P. Medh, Arvind Minocha, V.

Madhukar, Sumit Ghosh, Jayendra Sarada, Rajeev Sharmna, Neeraj Kumar Jain, Sanjay Singh, Sandeep Chaturvedi, Umang Shankar, T. V. George, Ejaz Maqbool, Rajesh Jain, Taruna Singh, Wasif Gilani, Amit S. Chauhan, Udita Singh, L. R. Singh, Vivek Singh, K. K. Mani, C. K. R. Lenin Sekar, R. K. Pandey, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Farrukh Rasheed, Manoranjan Paikaray, P. P. Rao, P. S. Patwalia, Shyam Diwan, Krishnan Venugopal, T. R. Andhyarujina, K. K. Venugopal, Sunil Gupta, Krishnan Venugbpal, Dhruv Agrawal, Rakesh Dwivedi, Sunil Kumar, Sudhir Chandra, Gopal Subramanian, ASG Shail Kr. Dwivedi, AAG. ,C. D. Singh, Sunny Chowdhary, Vairagya Vardhan Dueby, Aditya Singh, Upasana Nath, Puneet Bali, Hitten Nahra, Gourav Kejariwal, R. Nedumaran, Dewrat, Soumik Ghosal, Rajiv Tyagi, Udit Kumar, Chanchal Biswal, Partha Sil, K. Chatterjee, Ghanshyam Joshi, Aarohi Bhalla, Manoj Kr. Dwivedi, Vandana Mishra, G. V.

Rao, Praveen Kumar, Gopal Singh, Manish Kumar, Mohit Shah, Kaushik Poddar, Shamshad, Sanjay Jain, Tapesh Kumar Singh, C. Mukund, Shashank · Sharma,Avneesh Garg, Vandana Anand, Bijoy Kr. Jain, Parijit Singh, Reshmi Rea Sinha, S. C. Ghosh, U. A. Rana, A. K. Rao, for M/s Gagrat & Co. ,Advs. Kirti Renu Mishra, Rajiv Agnihotri, Rajesh Kumar, Indra Sawhney, K. L. Janjani, Kamakshi S. Mehlwal, Sanjeev Kr. Singh, Bhargava V. Desai,. Rahul Gupta, Reema Sharma, Nikhil Nayyar, H. K. Puri, L. N. Rao, Roy Abraham, Seema Jain, Himinder Lal, P. N. Puri, Tarun Johri, Shirin Khajuria, Surya Kant, B. Vijayalakshmi Menon, Vishwajit Singh, K. R. Sasiprabhu, M. P. Vinod, Ajay K. Jain, Dillep Pillai, C. N. Sree Kumar, Sanjay R. Hegde, Romy Chacko,. A. Mariarputham, Aruna Mathur, Adv. for Arputham Aruna & A. K. Ganguli, Harish N. Salve, K. K. Venugopal, T. L. V. lyer, S. Ganesh, Gopal Singh, Abhisth Kumar,. Ravindra Narain, Sonu Bhatnagar, Ms.

Sudha Malla, Rajan Narain, Aruneshwar Gupta, Sushil Kumar Jain, G. C. Bharuka, Ramesh Kumar Agarwal, Devashish Bharuka, Jaya Bharuka, Anjani Kumar Singh, Vinoo Bhagat, ~ ~ ATM Sampath, S. prasad,. K. V. Mohan, Rajeev K. Virmani, - Kamlendra Mishra,. T. Mahipal, B. V. desai, Rajiv Tyagi, Abhijit Sengupta, S. R. Setia, Dr. Vijay Pratap Singh, K. S. Rana, L. K. Bhushan, Swaty Malik, RP. Dave, Shakil Ahmed Syed, Sanjay Kapur, Sunil Kumar Jain, Bibek Mohanti, Ajay Kr. Bhatia, Sharmila Upadhyay, B. K. Satija, Shrish Kumar Misra, Ashok Mahur, P. V. Dinesh, E. C. Agrawala, M. K. Michael, A. Raghunath, K. Rajeev, Radha Shyam Jena, Prashant Kumar, TGN. Nair, S ·- ' Sukumaran, Anand Sukumar, V. K. Sidharthan, Gurukrishna Kumar, Srikala Gurukrishna Kumar, Manik Karanjawala, C. K. Sasi, S. Janani, Malini Poduval, Ramesh Babu M. R. , B. V. Deepak, Adv. for Mis T. T. K. Deepak & Jagdeep Dhankar Co. , , Janaranjan Das, Vijay Kumar, EMS. Anam, S.

Sukumaran, Anand Sukumar, Meera Mathur, Jogy Scaria, Senthil Jagadeesan, Sharat Kapoor, Hrishikesh Baruah, Arjun Bobde, Raka Phookan, Shailesh Madiyal, Jagjit Singh Chhabra, Bijoy Kumar Jain, Rupesh Kumar, Kanchan Kaur Dhodhi, R. Nedumaran, Ng. J. R. Luwang, Riku Sarma, M/s Corporate Law ,..... .. Group, Dr. A. M. Singhvi, Kamini Jaiswal, Vijay Kumar Garg, Sibo Sankar Mishra, M. P. Devanath, Prem Sunder Jha, Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, S. Balaji, Amlan Kumar Ghosh, B. B. Singh, M. K. Dua, Sanjay Jain, Tapesh Kumar Singh, Samir Ali Khan, Shiv Kumar Suri, Prem Prakash, Sunil Roy, Hrishikesh Baruah, Raka Phookan, Shailesh Madiyal, Manish Bisrioy, Rahul Gupta, Pinaki Addy and Chitaranjan Addy for the appearing parties. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 1. - DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. In these cases various issues _.. ~ of seminal importance are involved. Pursuant to the directions given by this Court in Jindal Stainless Ltd. (2) and Anr. v. State of Haryana and Ors.

(2006 (7) SCC 241) various High Courts have heard the Writ Petitions filed challenging the legality of levy of Entry Tax in the State by concerned Statute ofthe State. In most ' of the cases, Entry Tax has been introduced after abolition of Octroi. A series of judgments of this Court, for example, Atiabari :J Tea Co. Ltd. v. State ofAssam (1961 (1) SCR 809), Automobile Transport (Rajasthan) Ltd. v. State ofRajasthan (1963 (1) SCR 491 ), Khyerberi Tea Co. Ltd. v. State ofAssam (1964 (5) SCR I- 975), Meenakshi v. State ofKarnataka (1984 Supp SCC 326), Boiani Ores Ltd. v. State of Orissa (1974 (2) SCC 777) and Kamaljeet Singh and Ors. v. Municipal Board, Pilkhwa and \. "' Ors. (1986 (4) SCC 174) apart from Jindal's case (supra). nave been pressed into service by the parties. Stand ofthe appellants in the present cases essentially is that true nature of the levy of l· Entry Tax has to be seen and that has not been done. With reference to paragraphs 31 and 42.

of Jindal's case (supra) it has been submitted by assessees-appellants that Entry Tax is . really in essence not a tax in the classical sense, but a sub class offee. Some High Courts by the impugned judgment have held f --' ' that Clauses (a) and (b) ofArticle 304 ofthe Constitution of India, 1950 (in short the 'Constitution') are independent of each other k and if law is saved under Article 304 (a) then it need not be tested with reference to Clause (b) of Article 304 for determining its validity. 2. It is to be noted that almost all the cases on which the parties have placed reliance did not relate to Entry Tax and related to levy in the context oftax on vehicles brought inside the local area. These are commonly known as transport cases. JI>' Those cases like Meenakshi's case (supra) were decided because of Presidential permission in terms of Article 304 was there. The applicability of Part XIII is also in issue.

It is not contended and in our view rightly that compensatory tax is not ,levied on trade. Though some ofthe important factors have been addressed to by the Constitution Bench in Jindal's case (supra) certain other important constitutional issues are involved because the approach so far as the levy on transport cases indicated above are concerned is conceptually and contextually different from Entry Tax cases. In that sense, the foreign t ->r . decisions, more particularly, the Australian cases decided in the t background of Section 95 ofthe Australian Constitution may not have much relevance so far as cases relating to Entry Tax are concerned. f_ 3. In Jindal's case (supra) in paras 16 and 46 it was noted as follows: ' t "16. To SU(TI up: the pre-1995 decisions held that an \ exaction to reimburse/recompense the State the cost of an ; existing facility made available to the traders or the cost of . ,. .. ,,..

I a specific facility planned to be provided to the traders is compensatory tax and that it is implicit in such a levy that it ~ must, more or less, be commensurate with the cost of the service or facility. Those decisions emphasised that the imposition of tax must be with the definite purpose of meeting the expenses on account of providing or adding to the trading facilities either immediately or in future, provided the quantum of tax is based on a reasonable relation to the actual or projected expenditure on the cost of the service or facility. However, the post-1995 decisions ~ ~ in Bhagatram Rajeevkumar v. CST (1995 Supp (1) SCC 673) and in State ofBiharv. BiharChamberofCommerce (1996 (9) sec 136) now say that even if the purpose of imposition of the tax is not merely to confer a special advantage on the traders but to benefit the public in general including the traders, that levy can still be considered to be compensatory.

According to this view, an indirect or incidental benefit to traders by reason of stepping up the developmental activities in various local areas of the State can be brought within the concept of compensatory tax, the nexus between the tax known as compensatory tax and the trading facilities not being necessarily either direct or specific. xx xx xx 46.

Applying the above tests/parameters, whenever a law is impugned as violative of Article 301 of the Constitution, the Court has to see whether the impugned enactment facially or patently indicates quantifiable data on the basis of which the compensatory tax is sought to be < ,, like other taxing entries in the Schedule, merely provides a taxing field for exercising the power to levy and whether collection of Entry tax which ordinarily would be credited to the Consolidated Fund of the State being a revenue received by the Government of the State and would have to be appropriated in accordance with law and for the purposes and in the manner provided in the Constitution as per Article 266 and there is nothing express or explicit in Entry 52, List II, 7th Schedule which would compel the State ' to spend the tax collected within the local area in which it was collected? (4) Will the principles ofquid pro quo relevant to a fee apply ~ ; in the matter of taxes imposed under Part XIII?

(5) Whether the Entry Tax may be levied at all where the goods meant for being sold, used or consumed come to rest (standstill) after the movement ofthe goods ceases in the 'local area'? (6) Whether the Entry Tax can be termed a tax on the movement of goods when there is no bar to the entry of goods at the State border or when it passes through a local / ' area within which they are not sold, used or consumed? (7) Whether interpretation of Articles 301 to 304 in the context ofTax on vehicles (commonly known as 'transport') cases in Atiabari's case (supra) and Automobile Transport's case (supra) apply to Entry Tax cases and ifso, to what extent. (8) Whether the non discriminatory indirect State Tax which is capable of being passed on and has been passed on by traders to the consumers infringes Article 301 of the . , Constitution?

(9) Whether a tax on goods within the State which directly impedes the trade and thus violates Article 301 of the Constitution can be saved by reference to Article 304 ofthe Constitution alone or can be saved by any other Article? (10) Whether a levy under Entry 52, List II, even if held to be in the nature ofa compensatory levy, it must, on the principle ofequivalence demonstrate that the value ofthe quantifiable benefit is represented by the costs incurred in procuring the .. i facility/services (which costs in turn become the basis of reimbursement/recompense for the provider of the services/ facilities) to be provided in the concerned 'local area' and whether the entire State or a part thereof can be comprehended as local area for the purpose of Entry Tax? ... 6. The records be placed before the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India for necessary orders. It is open to the parties to move ; the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India for early hearing of the cases. D. G. Appeal allowed.