ORDER

Leave granted in special leave petitions.

2. In this batch of appeals, the constitutional validity of the Haryana Local Area Development Tax Act, 2000 has been challenged primarily on two grounds, first: that the Act is violative of Article 301 of the Constitution and is not saved by Article 304 and second: that the Act in fact seeks to levy sales tax on inter-state sales, which is outside the competence of the State Legislature.

3. After we had been addressed at length on the first of these issues by both sides, we were of the view, and the counsel for the appearing parties also submitted, that the question needed to be referred to a larger Bench under Article 145 (3) of the Constitution. Arguments on the second issue were, therefore, not concluded and will be necessary only if the first issue is decided against the appellants.

4. The factual background in which the issues are raised is briefly stated. The appellants are all industries or associations of industries manufacturing their products within the State of Haryana. The raw material for their respective products is purchased from outside the State. Most of the finished products are sent to other States on stock transfer or