JAGANMOHAN REDDY, J.

These four writ petitions are directed against the State of Andhra Pradesh challenging the levy of sales tax at six pies per rupee on the turnover of cigars and cheroots sold at less than 0-2-0, bidies, snuff, chewing tobacco or any other product manufactured from tobacco, from the date on the which the Andhra Amendment Act XIV of 1955 came into force as well as the levy of sales tax on country tobacco. Writ Petitions Nos. 222 and 267 of 1957 are filed by the Presidents of Tobacco Associations who are also manufacturers of cigars, while Writ Petition No. 288 of 1957 is filed exclusively by the individual who manufactures and sells cigars and cheroots sold at less than two annas each. Writ Petition No. 317 of 1957 is filed by the President of the Tobacco Merchants Association, Rajahmundry, on behalf of the 99 members of the Association, dealers in country tobacco, cigars and cheroots, In all these petitions, the retrospective levy of sales tax on the manufacture of cigars and the levy of tax on the first sale of country tobacco is challenged. In order to understand the several contentions, it is necessary to give the legislative history of the levy of sales tax on these articles.

Section 4 of the General Sales Tax Act which was enacted originally in 1939 is as follows;

"4. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the sale of electrical energy, motor spirit as defined in the Madras Sales of Motor Spirit Taxation Act, 1939, manufactured tobacco as defined in the Madras Tobacco (Taxation of Sales and Licensing) Act, 1939, and any goods on which duty is or may be levied under the Madras Abkari Act, 1886, the Madras Prohibition Act, 1937, or the Opium Act, 1878."

Manufactured tobacco was defined in Madras Tobacco Act VIII of 1939 by section 2-A, clause (b), as amended by Act IV of 1940, as meaning cigars, cheroots, cigarette-tobacco, pipe-tobacco, or tobacco intended for a further process of manufacture. Therefore under section 4 cigars, cheroots, cigarettes, beedies and snuff etc., were exempt from sales tax. By section 3 of the Madras Tobacco Taxation of Sales and Licensing (Repeal) and General Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1944 (Madras Act XII of 1944) which came into force on the 1st April, 1944, the words "tobacco in any form whether manufactured or no" were substituted in the said section 4 for the words "manufactured tobacco as defined in the Madras Tobacco (Taxation of Sales and Licensing) Act, 1939" so that by reason of the amendment, tobacco in any form whether manufactured or not became exempt by virtue of section 4 from the application of the General Sales Tax Act. This position continued upto 1st April, 1953, when, pursuant to Notification No. 80 dated 24th February, 1953, issued under Act IV of 1948, the suspension of Act VIII of 1939 as amended by Act IV of 1940 was cancelled so that manufactured tobacco became taxable and the resubstitution of the words "manufactured tobacco as defined in the Madras Tobacco (Taxation of Sales and Licensing) Act, 1939" for the words "tobacco in any form whether manufactured or not". After this Madras Tobacco (Taxation of Sales and Registration) Act IV of 1953 was enacted repealing Act VIII of 1939. It would then appear that the se words in section 4, above referred, were further amended and the words "taxed tobacco as defined in section 2, clause (13), of the Madras Tobacco (Taxation of Sales and Registration) Act, 1953, (Madras Act IV of 1953)" were substituted by section 2(i) of Act XIV of 1955. Section 2(13) of Act IV of 1953 as amended by section 3 of Act XIV of 1955 defined taxed tobacco as meaning manufactured tobacco liable to tax under the Act. Manufactured tobacco under section 2(9) is defined to mean cigars, cheroots, cigarettes, cigarette-tobacco, pipe-tobacco, beedies and snuff, but does not include any preparation or mixture of tobacco intended for a further process of manufacture. By these provisions only cigars, cheroots, cigarettes, ciga