Judgment

DAS GUPTA, J. : This appeal is against the judgment of the High Court of Punjab rejecting the appellants application under Art. 226 of the Constitution. In this application the appellants who had been carrying on the business of commission agents in Forward Contracts at Ludhiana alleged that the Punjab Forward Contracts Tax Act, 1951 (The Punjab Act No. VII of 1951) was ultra vires the powers conferred upon the State Legislature and prayed for a declaration that the Act and the notification made and the rules promulgated thereunder by the respondent State of Punjab were void. There was a further prayer for directing the State of Punjab by a writ of mandamus or other appropriate writ to allow the petitioners to carry on the business of Forward Contracts or as commission agents in Forward Contracts unrestricted by the provisions of the abovementioned Act and the rules thereunder and not to enforce the Act.

2. The respondent s case as made in para. 5 of its written-statement was that "the impugned Act is not ultra vires the State Legislature. It is a law with respect to the matters enumerated in Entry 62 of the State List read with Entry No. 7 of the Concurrent List of the 7th