Constitutional challenge to entry tax law rejected; prior binding ruling and temporary Supreme Court interim orders controlled the outcome.

A writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Tax on Entry of Goods Into Local Areas Act, 2007 was held not maintainable because an earlier binding High Court decision had already upheld the State's legislative competence and the levy's validity under Article 301. Interim orders passed by the Supreme Court in connected matters were treated as temporary and confined to those cases, so they could not reopen issues already decided or operate as precedent. The petitioner was left to pursue statutory remedies against assessment and demand orders under the Act, and the writ challenge on vires was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Tax on Entry of Goods Into Local Areas Act, 2007 and seeking relief against assessment and demand orders could be entertained in view of the earlier binding decision upholding the Act and the interim orders passed by the Supreme Court.

Analysis: The writ petitions questioning the vires of the Act had already been dismissed by the High Court in the earlier batch after upholding the legislative competence of the State and the validity of the levy as not offending Article 301 of the Constitution of India. The present petition sought to reopen the same constitutional challenge and to rely upon interim orders passed by the Supreme Court in connected matters. Those interim directions were confined to the facts of the cases before the Supreme Court and were expressly of a temporary nature. They did not operate as precedent or as a basis to re-agitate issues already decided. The petitioner was, in any event, left to pursue the statutory remedies against assessment and demand orders in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not maintainable on the constitutional challenge and was dismissed, with liberty to pursue remedies against notices and assessment orders under the Act.

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