Constitutional challenge concerned Clause (d) proviso to Rule...

Constitutional challenge concerned Clause (d) proviso to Rule 5(1) of the West Bengal Excise (Change in Management) Rules, 2009: the Court found the original wording created unjustifiable intra class discrimination between private and public limited companies lacking an intelligible differentia, applied the Budhan Choudhry rational nexus test and read Clause (d) to include "change in management in the usual course of business" for private companies, preserving the exemption for death of directors. The Court also held the 2020 Notification defining "change in management" was not a retrospective clarificatory amendment and cannot alter pre existing substantive rights.

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