INDIRA BANERJEE,J. - (1.) IN these writ petitions the writ petitioners, who are required, in connection with their business, to bring goods from all parts of India or abroad, into various local areas in West Bengal for sale, use or consumption therein, have challenged the validity of the West Bengal Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the 'impugned Entry Tax Act'). As all these writ petitioners involve a common question of law, they were heard together along with similar writ applications in the Original Side and are now being disposed of by this common judgment and order. One of the Writ Petitioners is an export oriented unit, having its factory at the Falta Special Economic Zone.
(2.) THE object of the impugned Act, as stated in its preamble is to provide for the levy and collection of taxes on the entry of certain goods into local areas of the State of West Bengal for consumption, use or sale therein and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto for the purpose of creating a compensatory Entry Tax Fund. Some of the definitions in Section 2 of the impugned Act, relevant for the purpose of this writ application are as follows:- "Section 2(1) (g) "dealer" means a dealer under the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003, or under the West Bengal Sales Tax Act 1994, as the case may be, and includes-- West Ben. Act XLIX of 1994. (i) a handling or delivery agent or an agent acting in any manner on behalf of the principal, or any other person who takes delivery or is entitled to take delivery of goods on behalf of a dealer on its entry into a local area, (ii) Where specified goods entering any local area have been dispatched to such local area by rail, road, water, air or post, and the consignee of such specified goods does not take delivery of such goods upon entry and such specified goods are sold under the provisions of any other law, the purchaser or any other person who takes livery of such goods on his behalf; Section 2(1) (h) "entry of goods", with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means bringing of goods into a local area from any place outside that local area or any place outside the State or from outside India, for consumption, use or sale therein, whether by a dealer or an importer other than a dealer himself or by any other person; Section 2(1) (i) "Fund" means thç West Bengal Compensatory Entry Tax Fund established under sub-section (1) of section 15; Section 2(1) (j) "goods" includes all kinds of movable property other than actionable claims, stocks, shares or securities; Section 2(1) (k) "importer' includes a person who in any capacity brings, or causes entry of, any specified goods into a local area for consumption or use therein /and a dealer; Section 2(1) (1) "import value", in respect of a consignment of specified goods upon entry of such goods in a local area by or on behalf of a dealer or an importer other than a dealer, means-- (a) the price or cost at which the dealer or importer other than a dealer has purchased or procured or acquired or obtained the specified goods, as shown in the original tax invoice, invoice or bill or stock transfer advice or document of like nature; or (b) where the tax invoice, invoice or bill or stock transfer advice or document of like nature is not available or is not produced, or where the price or cost of such specified goods is not separately mentioned therein, or where the tax invoice, invoice or bill or stock transfer advice or document of like nature produced is proved to be false or the information furnished therein is found to be incorrect, the prevailing market price of such specified "goods in the local area; Section 2(1) (m) "local area" means the areas within the limits of a Municipal Corporation or any municipality or Gram Panchayat or Notified Area Council or any other local authority, by whatever name called, constituted or continued in the State of West Bengal by any law for the time being in force; Section 2(1) (o) "person" includes any company or association or body of individuals whether incorporated or not and also a Hindu undivided family, a firm, a local authority, Government of India, the Government of any State or Union Territory, a statutory body, a trust or other body corporatre, a society including a co-operative society, a factor, a broker, a commission agent, a del credere agent, an auctioneer, an agent for handling or transporting of goods or handling of document of title to goods, or any other mercantile agent, by whatever name called, an educational institution, any bank, any hospital or nursing home or diagnostic centre, a joint-venture company, and a limited liability partnership or other juristic person; Section 2(1) (y) "turnover of imports", used in relation to any registered dealer with reference to a period of time, means the aggregate of the import value of specified goods which the dealer brings or receives in any local area during the period for consumption, use or sale therein, and used in relation to an unregistered dealer or importer other than a dealer, means the import value of a consignment of specified goods brought or received in any local area for consumption, use or sale therein, whether by the dealer or the importer other than a dealer himself or by any other person;"
(3.) SECTION 2(2) of the impugned Act interalia provides that words and expressions used but not defined in the impugned Act but defined in the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 or the West Bengal Value Added Tax, 2003 would have the same meanings as assigned to them in those Acts to the extent they are not inconsistent with the impugned Act and the Rules made thereunder.;