Ms Highco Engineers Private Limited Unit II through Its One of the Directors Mr Tapas Kumar Sahu v. the State of Jharkhand
Case brief
What is this about?
Keywords: electricity duty Jharkhand; Bihar Electricity Duty Act 1948 Section 3(1) charging section; Section 4 machinery provision; Section 10 rules previous publication; excessive delegation; unguided proviso; Schedule substitution; net charges undefined; Article 265 authority of law; Article 14 equality in taxation; Entry 53 List II Seventh Schedule; Article 246(3); retrospective subordinate legislation; captive power plant duty 50 paise per unit; Kirloskar Ferrous judicial restraint economic policy; Akola Municipal Corporation tax-rate revision; refund/adjustment of electricity duty; Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam; Damodar Valley Corporation; Tata Steel Utilities/JUSCO; writ petitions disposed, bills quashed.
What did the court decide?
1st Amendment Act, 2021 and Rules, 2021 declared ultra vires the Act, 1948; electricity bills issued pursuant to them quashed; duty collected thereunder to be adjusted against future liabilities of captive power plants and future bills of consumers (licensees to claim such amounts from the State); 2nd Amendment Act, 2021 upheld, with captive power plants liable per revised Schedule 'A' w.e.f. 17.02.2022.