ORDER

DIPAK MISRA, J. - Regard being had to the similitude and interconnectivity of the controversy that is involved in this batch of writ petitions it is disposed of by a singular order. It is condign to state at the outset that in some of the writ petitions, the constitutional validity of the provisions contained in the M.P. Sthaniya Kshetra Me Mal Ke Pravesh Par Kar Adhiniyam, 1976 (for brevity, "the 1976 Act") is called in question and prayer has been made to declare the entire enactment ultra vires articles 301 and 304(b) of the Constitution and in some of the writ petitions the assail is to the constitutional validity of the notifications issued under the 1976 Act on the foundation that they invite the frown on article 301 of the Constitution and also fall foul of article 14 of the Constitution. Keeping in view the nature of the challenge and the contours of the attack I will advert to the issue of validity of the Act first and thereafter I shall dwell upon the substantiality and sustainability of the notifications. For the sake of clarity and convenience I shall adumbrate the facts in W.P. No. 11642 of 2007 and wherever it is felt necessitous to delineate any other facets relating to the factual realm, I shall exposit and delve into the same so that a complete picture is frescoed.

Before I advert to the pleadings that have been brought on record it is essential to advert to the factual backdrop in the context of the 1976 Act, for it is imperative to do so. The constitutional validity of the 1976 Act was challenged before a Division Bench of this court in Sanjay Trading Co. v. Commissioner of Sales Tax [1994] 93 STC 589 wherein the Division Bench dealt with articles 301 and 304(b) of the Constitution of India and eventually expressed the view as under :

"21. In the present case, the State has taken the stand that the levy of entry tax is compensatory in character, i.e., to compensate the municipalities for loss of income by way of octroi which has been abolished in the State. This contention is met by learned counsel for the petitioners by pointing out that the legislative provisions indicative of the compensatory nature of the levy, have been deleted and, therefore, it is no longer open to the State to contend that the levy is compensatory in character.

22. Section 17 of the Act, as it originally stood, required that the tax collected shall be credited to the consolidated fund of the State and that net tax collection be placed to the credit of M.P. Octroi Compensation Fund under section 7B of the Sales Tax Act. By Act No. 24 of 1978, this provision was omitted with effect from April 1, 1978. Section 7B was introduced in the Sales Tax Act with effect from October 1, 1978, specifically providing for grant-in-aid for loss of octroi to the municipality. This provision was deleted in 1990. This is the foundation for the contention that the entry tax is not compensatory in character.

23. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Act states that it is enacted to levy a tax on entry of goods in lieu of octroi tax collected by the municipalities and municipal corporations and to make transportation of goods trouble-free by abolishing octroi check-posts. A copy of the Statement of Objects and Reasons is found in annexure A. R-1 appended to the additional submissions made on behalf of the respondents in M.P. No. 2289 of 1989. It indicates that the statute had the view of raising financial resources to compensate local bodies consequent upon abolition of octroi with a view to simplifying the taxation structure. Annexure A. R-3 gives summary in respect of levy and details of allotment made to local bodies. The document shows that during the period 1976-77 till 1988-89, provision was made in the budget to compensate the municipalities and the amount budgeted was made over. It also shows that with effect from the year 1983-84, there has been a regular annual increase of 10 per cent in total compensation amount. Considering the Stat

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