Tata Sponge Iron Ltd. Vs State of Odisha & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
The proceedings arose from a challenge to the constitutional validity of the Odisha Entry Tax Act, 1999 and a consequential claim for refund of entry tax. The petitioner sought to strike down the Act and the rules framed thereunder on the ground that the levy violated Article 304(a) of the Constitution by discriminating against goods imported from other States and thereby restricting the freedom of trade guaranteed under Article 301.
Read HC Judgment: Orissa HC Rejected Entry Tax Challenge Due to No Prior Writ Filing
The Supreme Court of India noted that the very same relief had been sought by the petitioner in an earlier round of litigation before the Orissa High Court in Writ Petition OJC No. 4663 of 2000. In that writ petition, the levy and collection of entry tax were challenged on multiple constitutional grounds, including lack of legislative competence, violation of Articles 300 and 304, non-compliance with Article 304(b), absence of assent under Article 255, and misuse of Entry 52 of List II of the Seventh Schedule. That writ petition had been dismissed by the High Court on 13.11.2002, and the dismissal was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 2633 of 2003 by order dated 29.03.2017. In view of this final adjudication, the Supreme Court found no ground to entertain the present petition seeking identical relief.
