S.C.MITAL,J. - (1.) THIS judgment will dispose of Civil Writ Petitions Nos. 1727, 558, 1690, 3771, 26, 3472 and 4156 of 1975.
(2.) THE constitutional validity of Schedule D of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, as made applicable to the State of Haryana, vide Haryana Amendment and Validation Act (President's Act No. 14 of 1967), was challenged in Rattan Dass Mohan Lal v. State of Haryana [1979] 43 S. T. C. 154 (Civil Writ No. 612 of 1974 ). On 1st August, 1978, S. S. Sandhawalia, C. J. , and S. S. Dewan, J. , overruled the challenge and dismissed the writ petition. As to the proposition of law involved, Sandhawalia, C. J. , speaking for the Bench, made the following observations : . . . Some aspects of the legal position, however, are not at all in doubt. Clause (3) of Article 286 of the Constitution lays down that with regard to any tax on the sale or purchase of goods declared by Parliament to be of special importance in inter-State trade or commerce, any law imposed by a State would be subject to such restrictions and conditions as Parliament may, by law, specify. In conformity with the constitutional mandate, Section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, declares a number of goods as being of special importance in inter-State trade or commerce. These goods for convenience and by long usage have now come to be known as declared goods under the State statute. Clause (ii) of Section 14 clearly specifies cotton of all kinds, both indigenous and imported, in its unmanufactured state, whether ginned or unginned, baled, pressed or otherwise (but excluding cotton waste) as one of the items of declared goods. So far, there is hardly any controversy but, as already noticed, the challenge is to Schedule D, as existing and applicable in the State of Haryana, on or after 14th November, 1967. . . . With regard to the theory of double taxation, the learned Judges, relying on Shri Laxmi Cotton Traders (P.) Ltd. v. State of Haryana A. I. R. 1969 P. and H. 12 at 23 (affirmed by the Supreme Court in Rattan Lal and Co. 's case A. I. R. 1970 S. C. 1742), observed that, in particular cases, where a double taxation has been made by the Assessing Authority, the court would strike down that action, but this fact would obviously have no bearing on the validity of the statute itself.
(3.) FOR appreciating the new grounds on which the constitutional validity of Schedule D of the aforesaid Act has been challenged, it is pertinent to set down Schedule D, as it stood before its amendment by Haryana Act No. 10 of 1970: Schedule D Name of declared goods Circumstances under Stage of levy which tax to be levied Cotton, that is to say, all (i) If imported by a (i) First sale within kinds of cotton (indige- dealer from outside the State of Harnous or imported) in the State of Haryana yana by a dealer its manufactured state, or otherwise received liable to pay tax whether ginned or un- by him in the under this Act. ginned, baled, pressed State of Haryana (ii) First purchase or otherwise but not for sale. within the State of including cotton waste. (ii) If purchased in Haryana by a dealer the State of Haryana. liable to pay tax under this Act.;