Jawahar Lal Gupta, J.

1. The petitioners are engaged in the sale of liquor in the State of Haryana. They have licences for the wholesale and retail sale of Indian-made foreign liquor as well as for retail sale of country liquor. The vends were allotted to the petitioners in an open auction. It is alleged that at the time of auction, it was announced that "there would be no sales tax on the Indian-made foreign liquor".

2. In pursuance to the grant of licences, the petitioners had started the sale of liquor from April 1, 2001. On June 26, 2001, the State of Haryana issued a notification amending the provisions of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 . By this notification, Schedule "B" which embodies the list of items exempted from the levy of sales tax was amended. Entry 24A relating to the sale of Indian-made foreign liquor was omitted. A corresponding entry was made in Schedule "C". A copy of this notification is at annexure P3 with the writ petition.

3. The wine contractors in the State of Haryana represented. Petitioner Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 also filed petitions to challenge the imposition of sales tax. The petitioners allege that during the pendency of the writ petition