D P WOOL COMPANY Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in this and the connected writ petitions pray that the various orders of assessments of Sales-tax made against them and the proceedings for recovery of sales-tax started against them be quashed and their claims for refund of sales-tax already paid but rejected by the Sales-tax authorities be upheld on the following two grounds, namely : (1) that the goods sold by them were formerly exempt from payment of sales-tax under the Second Schedule to the Bengal Finance (Sales-tax) Act, 1941 as applied to Delhi. These exemptions were illegally withdrawn by the Government, and (2) section 3 of the Delhi Sales-tax (Amendment an,d Validation) Act, 1976, which purports to validate the levy, assessment and collection of Sales-tax on these commodities is unconstitutional inter alia for the following reasons :

(2.) These claims are denied by the Government on the ground that even if the' exemptions are assumed to be invalid initially they were retrospectively validated by the validation Act of 1976. The above contentions of law have arisen from the following facts :

(3.) The Bengal Finance (Sales-tax) Act, 1941 was extended to Delhi under section 2 of the part C States (Laws) Act, 1950, which ran as follows, by notification dated 28-4-1951, with the necessary restrictions, amendments and modifications: