By the Court.—In these writ petitions with NTPC Ltd. and another v. State of U.P. and others, (Writ (Tax) No. 327 of 2008) as leading writ petition of the first batch; and the others filed after June 4th, 2011 with M/s Ajay Trading (Coal) Company and others v. State of U.P. and others, (Writ (Tax) No. 963 of 2011) of the second batch, the petitioners incorporated as public limited companies/private limited companies, registered partnership/proprietorship firms, manufacturers and traders of goods made out of forest produce, the miners and the transports of forest produce, have challenged the applicability of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, on mines and minerals including coal and other forest produce; as also the validity of the U.P. Transport of Timber and Other Forest Produce Rules, 1978 (in short the Rules of 1978) made under Section 41 (1) (c) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927; as amended by the 4th Amendment to the Rules in 1978 notified on 13.12.2010, increasing levy of transit fee from Rs. 38 per metric tonne, to Rs. 75; Rs. 100 and Rs. 200 per cubic meter of capacity per lorry load of different quality of timber and other forest produce; and the 5th Amendment to the Rules