Judgment

Bharucha, J.-

C.A. No. 2379/91 :

On the application of learned counsel for the appellant, the appeal is dismissed as withdrawn.

C.A. No. 3440/91 :

2. The order under challenge was passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on a writ petition filed by the appel­lant. The writ petition was dismissed and the appellant is here by way of special leave to appeal.

3. The appellant purchased natural gas from the first respondent, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission. It used the natural gas as fuel for the manufacture of paper and paper products. It claimed that it was entitled to the concessional rate of tax that was provided for under Section 5-B(1) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957. Originally this was permitted and, when it was not, the appellants filed the writ petition aforestated.

Section 5-B (1) reads thus :

“Notwithstanding anything in this Act, every dealer shall pay, in respect of any sale of goods to another dealer for use by the latter as raw material, component part, sub-assembly part, intermediate part, consumables and packing material of any other goods which he intends to manufacture inside the State, a tax at the rate of four paise in t