Goemkapronn desk
New Delhi: Vedanta Ltd has moved Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Goa Rural Improvement and Welfare Cess Act, which imposes a cess on carriers transporting ore and some other materials.
It argued that the levy of cess is a tax and not a fee and that the state does not have the power/competence to sustain this cess as such levy stands subsumed by the Goa Goods and Services Tax Act and the Central Goods and Service Tax Act 2017 pursuant to the Constitution.
Challenging a Bombay High Court order on January 10 that dismissed its plea, Vedanta said the impugned levy is a tax and not a fee since it did not receive any special benefit, either individually or as a member of a class, which the Supreme Court has held to be a requirement for a levy to qualify as a fee in the case of Jalkal Vibhag Nagar Nigam vs Pradeshiya Industrial and Investment Co.
