RAVALGAON SUGAR FARM LTD Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these three petitions have raised the common challenge and, therefore, they are being decided by this common judgment. All the petitions challenge the Government Notification dated 25/4/2000 as well as the subsequent Notification dated 4/4/2001 issued through the Department of Labour, Energy and Industries of the State Government under Section 5A of the Bombay Electricity Act, 1958 ("the Act" for short). By the first Government Resolution dated 25/4/2000 the exemption of payment of electricity duty for captive generation of power, by non conventional or conventional sources, as available prior to the said date came to be withdrawn except the industries in the co-operative sector and electricity duty at 30 paise per unit on generation of power for captive consumption was levied with effect from 1/4/2000. Whereas by the second Notification dated 4th April 2001 the State Government exempted with retrospective effect from 1st April 2000, the consumption of energy generated in a generating station by a person carrying on an industry and consumed by himself for such industry, in the whole of the State of Maharashtra, on payment of such part of electricity duty payable under Clause (b) of Part G of the Schedule to the Bombay Electricity Duty Act, 1958, as in excess of 15 paise per unit of energy was consumed, subject to the condition that the generating set was installed in pursuance of the Government of Maharashtra policy prior to the revised policy regarding captive generation declared vide the Government Resolution dated 25th April 2000. Thus by the Notification dated 4th April 2001 the petitioners were levied electricity duty at the rate of 15 paise per unit instead of 30 paise per unit from 1st April 2000. It is the case of the petitioners that they cannot be differentiated from the Cooperative Sugar Mills and they must continue to have full exemption in payment of electricity duty as was prevailing upto 31st March 2000, on par with the sugar factories / mills in the cooperative sector.

(2.) All the petitioners are the companies registered under the Companies Act and are running sugar mills in different parts of Maharashtra. As per them, the sugar mills run by companies are less than ten and all those who had installed Bagasse based co-generation captive power plants prior to 1st April 2000 were getting the benefit of full exemption in electricity duty on such co-generation and to the extent it was used for captive purposes i.e. to run their own sugar factories. However, the State Government arbitrarily, capriciously and without any justifiable reasons withdrew the said benefit vide Notification dated 1st April 2000 but continued it to the sugar factories / mills in the Co-operative Sector. It has been pointed out that the Government of Maharashtra by the G.R. dated 1st September 1994 had granted such exemption which was continued by the revised Industrial policy as per the Notification dated 30th October 1996. The Government of Maharashtra issued the said notification in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 5A of the Act and in supercession of the Government Notification dated 1st September 1994, with effect from the billing month of October 1996 the consumption of energy generated in a generating station by a person carrying on an industry and consumed by himself for such industry in the whole of the State of Maharashtra for payment of the whole of the electricity duty payable under Clause (b) of Part G of the Schedule appended to the said Act. Thus exemption was available to all the industries in the whole of the State of Maharashtra and those who were generating electricity from a generating station for their captive use.

(3.) It would be appropriate to reproduce the impugned GRs, as under,