Ranganathan, J. - (1.) The petitioner is a concern engaged in the business of manufacture of electric motors, pump sets and their parts. It applied for exemption from sales tax in respect of the goods manufactured by it in terms of a notification issued by the State Government on 30-9-1982 under S. 4A of the Uttar Pradesh Sales Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter called the 'Act'). This application was rejected by a Division Level Committee by an order dated 9-2-1987 and a further review application was also dismissed on 27-10-1987. Thereupon the appellant filed a writ petition which was also rejected by the High Court by a short order dated 7-12-1987. Aggrieved by this denial of the exemption, which it claims it is entitled to the appellant has preferred this appeal.
(2.) Section 4A of the Act reads as under: "4-A. Exemption from sales tax of certain goods for specified period- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in S. 3 or S. 3-A, where the State Government is of the opinion that it is necessary so to do for increasing the production of any goods or for promoting the development of in any district or parts of district in particular, it may on application, or otherwise, by notification, declare that the turnover of sales in respect of such goods by the manufacturer thereof shall, during such period not exceeding seven years from the date of starting production by such manufacturer, and subject to such conditions as may be specified, be exempt from sales tax or be liable to tax at such reduced rate as it may fix. (2) It shall be lawful for the State Government to specify in the notification under sub-sec. (1) that the exemption from, or reduction in, the rate of tax shall be admissible - (a) generally in respect of all such goods manufactured subsequent to the date of such notification; or (b) in respect of such of those goods only as are manufactured in a new unit, the date of starting production whereof falls on or after the first day of October, 1982:or (c) only if the manufacturer had not discontinued production of such goods for a period exceeding six months at a stretch in any assessment year. Explanation - For the purposes of this section- (i) 'new unit' means a factory or workshop using machinery, accessories or components not already used or acquired for use in any other factory or workshop in India but does not include any factory or workshop established on the site of an existing factory or workshop manufacturing the same goods or any addition to or extension of an existing factory or workshop; and (ii) 'date of starting production' means the date on which any raw material required for use in the manufacture or packing of the specified goods is purchased for the first time or the date of installation of power connection, where needed, whichever is later.
(3.) In pursuance of the above section, the State Government published a scheme for the grant of exemption from sales tax to certain industrial units in the State. The scheme, according to its introduction, had been introduced "in order to encourage capital investment and establishment of new industrial units in the State". It granted exemption to the industrial units established in certain areas of the State during the period from 1-10-1982 to 31-3-1985 and producing certain categories of goods. It is not necessary to refer in detail to the provisions of the scheme or other conditions of exemption. It is sufficient to say that this exemption was conferred only on units established on or after 1-10-1982 but before 31-3-1985. The scheme also makes it clear that though it referred to units "established" this really is a reference to the date of commencement of production by the industrial unit. This is also in accord with the terms of the statute and in particular sub-sec. (2) of 4A. The appellant's claim to exemption has been rejected on a very short ground, namely, that it had not commenced production after 1-10-1982.;