1. - The litigation in the above four writ petitions is between the came parties, namely-M/s Hindustan Copper Ltd. Khetri Copper Complex Khetri Nagar (Jhunjhunu) (for short petitioner company) and the State of Rajasthan and others and a question in each of them is as to whether any excise duty can be charged on the rectified spirit imported by the petitioner company. Therefore, all the above four writ petitions are being disposed of by this common order.

2. The Government of India Ministry of Industry, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, has been making ad hoc inter-State allocation of Alcohol for potable and industrial use from year to year and the petitioner company has imported rectified spirit from year to year for industrial use. The non-petitioner No. 3 is demanding excise duty on the imported rectified spirit on the ground that it is an excisable article within the meaning of Section 3(4) of the Rajasthan Excise Act, 1950 (for short, the Act) and though in the above writ petitions the period of allocation is different but as stated earlier the issue involved in all the above four writ petition, is identical, whether any excise duty under the provisions of the