Judgment

V. RAMASWAMI, J.:- Leave granted in all Special Leave Petitions.

2. In this batch of civil appeals, writ petition and transferred case, a common question of law arises as to whether the industries which manufacture sugar from sugar cane are covered by Entry 15 of Schedule I to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 (Central Act 36 of 1977) (hereinafter called the Cess Act).

3. Originally the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (hereinafter called the Act) was enacted by the Parliament under Article 252 of the Constitution with a view to control the pollution of rivers and streams which has assumed considerable importance and urgency in recent years as a result of. increasing industrialisation and urbanisation. The Act is intended to ensure that the domestic and industrial affluence are not allowed to be discharged into water coarses without adequate treatment. This Act is now in force in almost all States and in all Union Territories. The Act provides for the constitution of a Central Board by the Central Government and State Boards by the State Governments concerned for the prevention and control of water pollution. There are also certain provisions relating to constitution of joint Boards the details of which need not detain us. The Act sets out in detail the functions and powers of these Boards. Chapter VI of the Act requires the Central Government and the State Governments to provide funds to the Central Board and the State Boards respectively for implementing the provisions of the Act. The Cess Act 36 of 1977 provides for levy of cess on water consumed by persons carrying on certain industries and by the local authorities with a view to augment the resources of the Central Board and the State Boards constituted for the prevention and control of water pollution. Section 3 of the Cess Act which may be termed as the charging section states that "there shall be levied and collected a cess for the purposes of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and utilisation thereunder". The cess is payable by every person carrying on any specified industry and every local authority and is calculated on the basis of water consumed by such person or local authority as the case may be for any of the purposes specified in column 1 of Schedule 11 to the Act, at such rate not exceeding the rates specified in the corresponding Entry in column 11 thereof as the Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette from time to time specify. "Specified industry" is defined in the Act as meaning any industry specified in Schedule I. There are 1 5 entries in Schedule 1 and they read as follows:

SCHEDULE I

(See Section 2 (c))

1. Ferrous metallurgical industry.

2. Non-ferrous metallurgical industry.

3 Mining industry.

4. Ore processing industry.

5. Petroleum industry.

6. Petro-chemical industry.

7. Chemical industry.

8. Ceramic industry.

9. Cement industry.

I0. Textile industry.

11. Paper industry.

12. Fertilizer industry.

13. Coal (including coke) industry.

14. Power (thermal and diesel) generating industry.

15. Processing of animal or vegetable products industry.

4. The concerned assessing authorities have in all the cases under consideration issued notices demanding water cess from the sugar manufacturers on the ground that this industry falls under item 15 "processing of animal or vegetable products industry". The Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Allahabad High Court have taken the view that the sugar manufacturing industries would come within Entry 15 as "processing vegetable products industry". On the other hand the Andhra Pradesh High Court and Patna High Court have taken the view that sugar manufacturing industries would not come within Entry 15 of the 1st Schedules A writ petition which was filed in the High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore, by one of the sugar mills in Karnataka raising similar question has been withdrawn to this Court in Transfer Petition No. 276 of 1984 to be dea