NESTLE INDIA LIMITED Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall dispose of C.W.P. No. 18227 and C.W.P. No. 18272 of 2002 as both the writ petitions raises similar questions of law on identical facts. For facility of reference the facts are taken from C.W.P. No. 18227 of 2002.

(2.) The petitioner is a registered dealer under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (herein after referred to as the Act) and is assessed to sales tax (including purchase tax), levied under the Act. The petitioner is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 engaged inter-alia in the manufacturing of various types of food products particularly products based on milk as raw material. The petitioner has a milk plant at Moga, Punjab. It is stated that the petitioner started milk collection in Moga in 1961 with a collection of 510 Kgs. of milk from 180 farmers and today has expanded its operations to include a collection from around 81,000 farmers in its own milk district. The petitioner is carrying out a large scale extension work along the milk producers in this area to help them to develop better cattle and better milk yields, by educating them in better farm practices and educate them generally to modernize their system so that they can supply large quantity of better milk and thereby earn better profits.

(3.) It is further stated that for the last many years there has been persistent demand from the milk producers and the farmers throughout Punjab to abolish purchase tax on milk as it imposes heavy burden on the farmers as it increases the cost of procurement of milk. The Governor of Punjab promulgated Punjab Ordinance No. 8 of 2000 w.e.f. 19.7.2000.The said ordinance was replaced by the Punjab Diary Development Board Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to PDDB Act). The said Act provides for the operation of Punjab Dairy Development Board for Co-ordination between the organizations engaged in dairy sector to uplift professional standard of the dairy industry in the State and to development modern dairy farming technology system and to levy cess on the milk plants by abolishing tax on milk. The levy of cess under the PDDB Act was challenged by many milk plant owners. Said writ petition was allowed by a Division Bench of this Court on 20.11.2001 in a judgment reported in Health Aid Foods Specialist Pvt. Ltd v. State of Punjab and Ors., (2001-3)129 P.L.R. 821. In Special Leave Petition No. 2949-2961 of 2002 to appeal against the said judgment of the Division Bench, the Hon'ble Supreme Court stayed the operation of the judgment of the Division Bench on 25.2.2002 and granted leave to appeal. Consequently, the PDDB Act stood revived. The petitioner herein has also filed a separate writ petition challenging the levy of cess under the aforesaid PDDB Act which is pending consideration before this Court.