PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Wednesday dismissed writ petitions of nine mining firms challenging the Goa Rural Improvement and Welfare Cess Act, 2000, enacted by the government to augment revenue for improvement of infrastructure and health and to promote welfare of the people residing in rural areas affected by the use of plastics, dumping of garbage and spillage of materials due to transportation of iron and coal into the State of Goa from the other States.
The transportation cess was challenged by the petitioners in 2009 arguing that the State had no legislative competence to enact the Act and whether it will be implemented with retrospective effect. But in September 2018, the Court upheld the Constitutional validity saying the Act and Rules were okay and there is nothing wrong in it.
However, the nine petitioners filed civil applications with certain additional points which they argued separately. The petitioners argued whether the State is entitled to levy such a kind of cess or not which is levied on mineral ore. But the court ruled that it was not a levy on mineral ore directly but on transportation activity and the Act was upheld.
The petitioners raised additional points like more tax levied on trucks coming from the other States like Maharashtra and Karnataka while Goan trucks were being levied less taxes. According to the petitioners, it was discriminatory and it could not be done as per Article 301 of the Constitution, which basically prohibits that the State cannot prohibit goods from one State to another.
The State government brought to the notice of the Court that it is not discriminatory and that it was because the road was used which causes dust pollution.
