JUDGMENT

Arijit Pasayat, J. — Challenge in this appeal is to the legality of the judgment rendered by a Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur holding that 4A of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994 (in short the Act) as introduced by the State Finance Act, 2004 was not legally sustainable to the extent that tax on first point sale of drugs, medicines or any formulation or for that matter any other commodity by a manufacturer/wholesaler/distributor to retailer where "Minimum Retail Price" (in short MRP) is published on package, measure to which rate of tax is to be applied cannot be with reference to such published MRP which is neither charged nor chargeable by the wholesaler from the retailer whether the tax is charged on sales or on purchase by the parties to sale under Section 4A and the concerned Notification in this regard. Writ application filed by the respondent-Association was allowed to that extent.

2. The controversy arose in the following background:

By the Finance Act, 2004 Section 4A was introduced which reads as follows:

"4A. Levy of tax on retail sale price: — (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act or the rules made thereund