Rajagopala Ayyangar, J.-These several writ petitions which we shall presently group into various classes have been filed by dealers in several commodities who under the rules framed under the Madras General Sales Tax Act have been required to take out licences and pay the fees prescribed therefor under these rules. The common point that arises in these several petitions is the validity of the licensing provisions themselves and the objection to quantum of the licence fee prescribed by the rules, and in particular to these fees as enhanced by certain amendments made in 1955 to which we shall advert in its proper place.

These dealers fall into several classes depending upon the commodities in which they are trading and it would be convenient to classify them even at the beginning so that the problems arising in regard to each trade might be dealt with in a group.

W.P. Nos. 85, 116, 117, 404, 457 to 459 are concerned with dealers trading in hides and skins. The petitioners in W.P. Nos. 228 to 232 and 329 are dealers in cotton while cotton yarn is the commodity in which the petitioners in W.P. Nos. 455, 590 to 596 of 1956 deal. W.P Nos. 244 and 245 of 1956 are concerned with the licensin

Click Here to Read the rest of this document