JUDGMENT

KHANNA, J.:— Whether the provisions of the Luxury Tax on Tobacco (Validation) Act, (Act 9 of 1964) (hereinafter referred to as the Act) enacted by the State Legislature of Kerala are void on the grounds that (1) the State Legislature lacked the legislative competence to enact that Act, and (2) the provisions of the Act contravened Article 301 of the Constitution and were not protected by Article 304 is the main question which arises for determination in these 16 Civil Appeals Nos.- l689, 1690 and1692 to 1705 filed on certificate against the judgment of the Kerala High Court .A Division Bench of the High Court has upheld the validity of the Act.

2. We may set out the chequered history giving rise to Civil appeals 1689 and 1692. Learned counsel for the parties are agreed that it is not necessary to set out the facts of the other cases and that the decision in the above two appeals would also govern those other cases. The appellants were dealers in tobacco and tobacco preparations in Mattancherry in erstwhile Cochin State. In 1909 Cochin Tobacco Act (Act 7 of 1084 M. E.) was enacted by the Maharaja of Cochin. Section 4 of that Act prohibited the transport, import or export, sa