Row over goods entry tax: 9-judge SC bench verdict today

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on the validity of separate entry taxes on goods mandated by various state government statutes on Friday.

The bench had commenced hearing on July 19 without heeding to the plea of the Centre to wait for the passage of GST Bill in Parliament which was eventually passed in the Monsoon Session.

The bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur on September 20 had reserved the judgement after a marathon hearing on the batch of petitions which had been pending since 2002.

The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde, Shiva Kirti Singh, N V Ramana, R Banumathi, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, had deliberated on the matter in which complex tax issues are involved.

The bench had commenced the hearing despite the Centre wanting it to wait till the passage of pending GST (Goods and Services Tax) Bill which according to it would have subsumed the tax law under challenge.