Modification of tax concession upheld where converted timber was validly brought within the exclusion from concessional treatment.

A sales tax concession granted by an earlier notification could be modified by a later amending notification, because the concession was an incentive created under statutory power and not a vested right. The court noted that the broad statutory meaning of "timber" encompassed converted timber, so the clarification bringing converted timber within the exclusion from concessional treatment was within the authority's power. The challenge that the notification was ultra vires therefore failed, the writ petitions were rejected, and the assessment orders remained undisturbed, with only the statutory appellate remedy left open.

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Issues: Whether the amending notification dated 23 July 1999, issued under the sales tax statute, was ultra vires and liable to be quashed.

Analysis: The concession granted by the earlier notification was an exemption or incentive created by the State in exercise of its statutory power. The later notification only altered the scope of the concession by clarifying that converted timber would also fall within the expression "timber" for the purpose of excluding it from the concessional treatment. The statutory definition of timber was broad and, as used in the sales tax enactment and the Indian Forest Act, included converted timber. A concession can be modified or withdrawn by the authority that granted it, and no assessee has a vested right to insist on its continuance in the same form.

Conclusion: The amending notification was not ultra vires and the challenge to it failed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions were rejected, leaving the assessment orders undisturbed and reserving to the petitioners the liberty to pursue the statutory appellate remedy.

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