P.S. Dinesh Kumar, J.

1. In all these writ petitions, the petitioners are challenging, inter alia, the Constitutional validity of Act 23 of 2016, amending Chapter XI-A of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963 (Forest Act for short).

2. Briefly stated the facts of the case are, the Forest Act was amended during 1976 inserting Chapter XI-A with effect from December 24, 1975, which provided for levy of forest development tax on disposal of forest produce by the State Government under Sections 98-A and 98-B of the Forest Act.

3. Further, in the year 1989, by Act 10 of 1989, the provision of Section 98-A was made applicable, with effect from February 14, 1978, to the Corporations owned or controlled by the State Government.

4. The validity of levy under Section 98-A of the Forest Act was challenged in this Court, contending inter alia that the said levy was in fact a fee, and such a fee could not have been levied as there was no quid pro quo with reference to the quantum of levy. This Court, in