A.K.SIKRI,J. - (1.) These appeals arise from the judgment of the Bombay High Court dated June 10, 2013 by which the High Court has dismissed a batch of writ petitions wherein challenge was laid to the constitutional validity of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax (Levy, Amendment and Validation) Act, 2009 which amended certain provisions in the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 (for short, the 'MVAT Act') with retrospective effect from April 01, 2005. The High Court has based its judgment by referring to various judgments of this Court which held that Legislature has the power to enact prospectively as well as retrospectively. The appellants do not, and in fact cannot possibly, have any objection at all with this proposition. However, they argue that the High Court has failed to appreciate the effects and consequences and the practical impact of the retrospective amendment on the industrial units which had, in response to the State Government's Scheme, made huge investments in the most extremely backward areas of Maharashtra and which were led to believe that they were entitled to claim exemption from Value Added Tax (for short, 'VAT') on 100% of their production and accordingly did not recover any VAT from their customers. According to them, the effect and consequence of this amendment was that, with retrospective effect from April 01, 2005, industrial units which had made capital investments in very backward areas in the State of Maharashtra and which were earlier entitled to claim VAT exemption benefit on the entire production of their respective industrial units, had their exemption benefit substantially curtailed, being limited to, only a portion of the total production of the unit due to the aforesaid retrospective amendment.
(2.) It is in this backdrop the issue is as to whether retrospective amendment in the MVAT Act stands the test of constitutionality and is valid in law. Following factual background need to be noted in order to understand the exact nature of controversy and the decisions which are taken by the appellants on the one hand and the respondent on the other.
(3.) In order to encourage and ensure industrialisation in the backward and underdeveloped areas, Government of Maharashtra had introduced package schemes of incentives to the industrial units for setting up industries in such areas. First scheme in this process is known as the 'Package Scheme of Incentives' which was introduced in the year 1964. Then came few amended Schemes in the subsequent years. On September 30, 1988, yet another new Package Scheme of Incentives for the period between October 01, 1988 to September 30, 1993 was promulgated with a view to rationalise the scope, scale and mode of release of incentives and accelerate the dispersal of industries from the developed areas of the State to underdeveloped regions. This was notified with effect from May 07, 1993, with which this case relates to.;