Judgment

D. A. DESAL J.:- Next only to liquor licencees but almost comparable with them are the transport operators who have flooded this Court complaining of some imaginary or untenable grievances, the sole purpose being to snatch some interim relief under one or the other pretext.

2. Petitioners and appellants in this group of appeals and special leave petitions are either operators of omnibuses, mini buses or stage carriages in the State of Karnataka. They have a grievance against the enhancement of tax on their vehicles levied under the Karnataka Taxation and Certain Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 1979 (Taxation Amendment Act for short). They filed writ petitions in the High Court of Karnataka challenging the Taxation Amendment Act on diverse grounds but the central point of attack was that the collection of the tax since prior to its impugned enhancement was sufficient to meet the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges in the State and hence the tax imposed at the enhanced rate under the Taxation Amendment Act, 1979 is violative of freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse guaranteed by Article 301 of the Constitution and the enhanced tax is not shown to be compensatory