SC rejects Tata Sponge plea vs Odisha Entry Tax Act constitutional validity
This story was originally published at 13:59 IST on 28 January 2026
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NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court has rejected Tata Sponge Iron Ltd.'s plea challenging the constitutional validity of Odisha Entry Tax Act, 1999 that provided levy of tax on entry of the scheduled goods into a local area for consumption, use or sale therein and related matters. The bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Prasanna B. Varale said that it did not find any infirmity in Orissa High Court's 2019 order that had also rejected Tata Sponge Iron Ltd.'s plea.
Tata Sponge had sought the top court to strike down the Odisha Entry Tax Act, 1999 and consequently, the rules framed thereunder. The petitioner had also sought a direction to the Odisha government and other parties to grant refund of the amount collected towards entry tax from the petitioner.
The petitioner had argued that clause(a) of Article 304 of the Indian Constitution forbids states from imposing discriminatory taxes on inter-state trade. It said that the levy under the 1999 Act violated Article 304(a) of the Indian Constitution and thereby restricted the freedom of trade granted under Article 301.
The apex court said that it had earlier also dealt with a challenge on the levy and collection of tax on the entry of goods into the local areas of Odisha for consumption, use or sale therein. The issue was resolved and petitions filed against the 1999 Act were dismissed in 2002 and also affirmed in 2017, said the top court. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj
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