The imposition of octroi duty on glass bottles is contingent upon proving their use within municipal limits, distinguishing between taxability of the beverage and its container.

1 Leave granted.

2 All these three appeals arising from a common judgment rendered by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in three writ petitions project a short question whether the common appellant, original writ petitioner, was liable to pay octroi duty during the relevant period from 1980 to 1987 to the respondent - Municipalities on the weight of the glass bottles which were brought within the municipal limits when they were containing soft drinks like Gold Spot, Limca, Thumps up, Soda, Rim - Zim etc. For the sake of convenience, we shall refer to the appellant as the writ petitioner and the respondents as the respondent - Municipalities in the latter part of the judgment. The contention of the writ petitioner was that the beverages in liquid form were imported by the wholesalers to whom the soft drinks were sold. The Municipalities, therefore, could validly impose octroi on the weight of liquid contents of the bottles and not on the weight of bottles which were mere containers as these bottles after taking out the liquid contained therein were being sent back in their empty state to the writ petitioner by the wholesalers for recycling and thus these bottles were not imported within the local limits of the Municipalities for consumption, use or sale therein. This contention of the writ petitioner was rejected by the Division Bench of the High Court relying on its earlier decision in the case of Prem Nath Monga Bottlers (P) Ltd. v. Municipal Board, Meerut, in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 6883 of 1973 decided on 11-2-1980. We shall refer to the said judgment at the appropriate place in the latter part of the judgment. In the impugned common judgment, the Division Bench of the High Court held that even though the cold drinks were being imported for being sold within the municipal limits, the bottles in which they were carried and filled in could be said to have been used within the municipal limits for the purpose of storing these liquids till they were ultimately utilised by the consumers concerned. Therefore, even the weight of bottles containing these liquids could legitimately be taken into consideration by the Municipalities for imposing the octroi duty thereon.

3 It is the aforesaid decision of the High Court which is brought in challenge by the writ petitioner. We have heard learned counsel for the writ petitioner as well as learned counsel appearing for the respondent - Municipalities of Rampur and Moradabad and the State of Uttar Pradesh in support of the decision rendered by the High Court. The Municipalities of Pilibhit and Sahajahanpur, though served, have not thought it fit to appear and contest these proceedings.

4 RELEVANT FACTS :
It will be necessary to keep in view a few relevant facts leading to these proceedings. The writ petitioner is a Private Limited Company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956. Under an agreement with M/s. Parle (Exports) Pvt. Ltd., Bombay, the writ petitioner is engaged in the business of bottling soft drinks like Gold Spot, Limca, Thumps up, Soda, Rim - Zim etc. which are manufactured by Parle Exports. After bottling these beverages at its Plants at Bareilly, the writ petitioner distributes the same to wholesalers in ten districts of Uttar Pradesh, which include amongst others, the respondent - Municipalities, namely, the Municipal Boards of Moradabad, Rampur, Sahajahanpur and Pilibhit. According to the writ petitioner company after the beverages are consumed by the consumers within the municipal limits the bottles in empty state are returned to it and the title and ownership in the bottles also remain with it. The Uttar Pradesh State Legislature enacted an Act in 1916 called the U. P. Municipalities Act, 1916 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). Under S.128 thereof powers were conferred on the Municipal Board governed by the State Act to impose an octroi on goods or animals brought within the municipality for consumption, use or sale therein. Under S.298 of the