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of <h1>Validation of state mineral cess collections: past levies protected, but no recovery or demands allowed after 4.4.1991</h1> Parliament's Cess and Other Taxes on Minerals (Validation) Act, 1992 was held constitutionally valid as a curative enactment validating past ... - Issues: Whether the Cess and Other Taxes on Minerals (Validation) Act, 1992 by its provisions (particularly section 2) validated only past imposition and collections made under specified state laws up to 4.4.1991 or whether it also conferred on the State a substantive right to levy and collect taxes and cesses (including making fresh demands/realising unpaid liabilities) after 4.4.1991 in respect of liabilities accrued before that date.Analysis: The statutory text of section 2(1) to (3) must be construed in the light of the object of the statute, the surrounding legal context and constitutional limitation under Article 265. The validation device is a retrospective deeming that certain provisions of state enactments are to be treated as having been enacted by Parliament and as having remained in force up to 4.4.1991. The statement of objects and reasons and the specific wording of section 2(2) identify validation of collections already made; section 2(3) functions as a limited saving/removal-of-difficulty clause for refund claims. The validated provisions were therefore temporary in character (operative only up to 4.4.1991) and no provision equivalent to section 6 of the General Clauses Act was included to carry forward charging or collection machinery beyond expiry. Article 265 requires levy and collection to be by authority of law; permitting fresh levy or collection after the expiry of the validated law would lack such authority and conflict with that constitutional requirement. Precedents on enduring rights created by temporary legislation do not warrant a general rule that collection powers endure after expiry where the statute and its objects indicate limited retrospective validation of past collections only. Concerns about equal treatment or discrimination do not compel reading the Act to authorise post-expiry collection; principles regarding unjust enrichment allow different legal positions for those who challenged demands and those who paid.Conclusion: The validation act is constitutionally valid insofar as it validates past imposition and collection of cesses and taxes on minerals up to 4.4.1991 and precludes refund claims in specified circumstances, but it does not authorise States to levy or collect taxes or cesses after 4.4.1991 in respect of liabilities which, though accrued before that date, were not collected by that date. The prior two-judge decision reaching the contrary conclusion is not correct on this point.
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