- (1.) The claim of the petitioner here is for exemption from payment of octroi duty for a period of ten years from the date it went into production. This claim is founded upon the provisions of the notification of March 21, 1979 (Annexure P-10 entitled ' Punjab Industrial Incentives Code under the Industrial Policy Statement, 1978,' which was made effective from April 1, 1978. In terms of this policy, the petitioner was granted provisional registration on April 18, 1984, for availing of the incentives thereunder. Exemption from payment of octroi for 10 years being, one of the incentives that the petitioner was entitled to.
(2.) It was from November 3, 1998 that the petitioner-company went into commercial production and consequently became entitled to exemption from octroi for a period of ten years from this date. The petitioner was at that time located beyond the municipal limits of Sangrur and, therefore, no question of payment of any octroi arose. On March 11, 1993, the municipal limits were, however, extended and this what brought petitioner's company within the municipal limits and, thus, rendered it liable for payment of octroi. The petitioner claimed exemption from payment of it. The denial of the exemption is what led to the filing of the present writ petition.
(3.) The main contest to the relief claimed by the petitioner comes from the municipal committee, on the ground that according to the Industrial Policy Statement of 1978, the industry concerned is required to pay the octroi/terminal tax to the municipal committee and then to apply for refund thereof to the District Industries Officer. This is a plea that cannot, indeed, be sustained, in view of the judgment of the Division Bench in M/s. Molins of India Ltd. and others v. State of Punjab and others,1985 RevLR 439where precisely this argument was raised and repelled with the observations :- "In case of concession regarding octroi/terminal tax the words used are "exemption from the levy of octroi/terminal tax or alternatively refund of the amount paid by the unit" whereas in the case of concession regarding the sales tax, the right given is only of the refund of the tax deposited. It is, therefore, evidence that the Government has intentionally used both the words, exemption as well as refund so far as octroi/terminal tax is concerned. A provision for the refund has to be made because many industrial units who were allowed this concession had already paid the octroi/duty before the relevant rules were enforced from a back date. Otherwise also, the use of both the words, "exemption" as well as the "refund" in case of octroi duty clearly shows that the Government intended to exempt the industrial units from the payment of the octroi duty covered under the policy in force at the relevant time.";