LAWS(SC)-2026-5-42

STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH Vs. RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LIMITED

Decided On May 15, 2026
STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH Appellant
V/S
RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LIMITED Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) India is a Union of States. Reality is that all States are not endowed equally. There is stark disparity in the economic scenario among various States in India. Each State has its unique contributions and products. It is the free flow of trade and commerce that seeks to nullify some effects of inequality with just exceptions. But for the Union, generally it is observed that federating units would want to cut corners by instituting protectionist measures to augment their resources over others. It is in this context that the framers of the Constitution have laid down a road map to ensure that the Union Government takes over fiscal policies touching upon inter-state or international trade and commerce. This avowed purpose, we are here to secure.

(2.) On the same lines, Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, in his Federalist Paper No. 11 (1787), recounts the benefits of free trade:

(3.) This Appeal is filed against the impugned order dtd. 7/9/2012 passed by the Division Bench of Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) in Writ Petition No. 6281 of 2010 and other connected cases, wherein the High Court allowed the writ petition preferred by the Respondent No. 1 herein and quashed the order of assessment dtd. 11/6/2010 passed by the Additional Commissioner Grade-II, Commercial Tax Lucknow along with all consequential orders/notices passed by the State of Uttar Pradesh. The High Court further directed the State Government to refund to the assesses the tax realised in pursuance to order dtd. 11/6/2010.