M. Katju, J. - (1.) Heard Sri Bharat Ji Agrawal, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri R.D. Gupta, learned Standing Counsel, for the respondents.
(2.) The petitioner is a company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 which is engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of phosphatic fertilisers and allied chemicals, and it is registered under the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 and Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. The petitioner is selling phosphatic fertilisers within the State of U.P. and composition of the same is N.P.K. 23:23:0 (the letters N.P.K. standing for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) respectively.
(3.) A notification dated November 2, 1994, annexure No. 4 to the writ petition was issued by the State Government under Section 4(a) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948, exempting potassic and phosphatic fertilisers till March 31, 1995. However, subsequently a notification dated April 10, 1995, vide annexure 5 to the writ petition, was issued superseding the earlier notification dated November 2, 1994 and stating that only certain categories of fertilisers (mentioned therein) will be exempted and not all kinds of fertilisers. This was followed by another notification dated May 15, 1995 specifying seven varieties of fertilisers to be exempted under Section 4(a) vide annexure 6. In the notifications dated April 10, 1995 and May 15, 1995 there is no mention of the fertilisers sold by the petitioner viz., N.P.K. 23:23:0. Hence the petitioner wrote a letter dated November 23, 1995 to the Commissioner, Trade Tax, pointing out the discrimination meted out to the petitioner by non-inclusion of N.P.K. 23:23:0 in the exemption notification dated May 15, 1995. A true copy of the said letter is annexure 7.;