- (1.)In all the above writ petitions, a common issue is involved. The Writ Petition No. 1664 of 2004 M/s Hindustan Lever Limited v. State of U.P. and Ors., is treated as the leading case and for the purposes of the decision the facts of only the leading case are being referred herein below.
(2.)The petitioner M/s Hindustan Lever Limited is a Public Limited Company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, established a unit at Orai for the manufacture of toilet soap, fatty acid, etc. The unit had undergone expansion by making an additional investment of more than Rupees 50 crores.
(3.)The petitioner filed an application on 14.8.1997 under Section 4A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as "Act") in the prescribed Form 46 under Rule 25 of the U.P. Trade Tax Rules (hereinafter referred to as "Rules") for grant of benefit of expansion under the Notification No. 640 dated 21.2.1997.