The Himachal Pradesh High Court has disposed of more than 100 petitions filed by stone crushers and other industrial units across the state. The court has directed the government to adjust any excess electricity duty collected from the petitioners against their future dues within one year.
A Division Bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma passed the order while hearing the main case, M/s Brajesh Stone Crusher vs State of Himachal Pradesh, along with several related petitions.
The petitioners included stone-crushing businesses and other private industrial units. They had challenged the electricity duty rates and notifications issued by the state government under the Himachal Pradesh Electricity (Duty) Act.
The court directed the authorities to calculate the electricity duty already paid by the petitioners. If the assessment shows that excess duty was collected, the amount must be adjusted against their future electricity duty payments, preferably within one year.
The bench also said that if the assessment finds that any amount is still due from the petitioners, it can be recovered from them as per law.
The court observed that the state has the right to raise revenue through taxation. However, electricity duty should not be fixed at rates that become “highly excessive or exorbitant” for industrial consumers.
The bench stressed the need to strike a balance between government revenue and the growth of industries. It said the tax system should not place an unreasonable financial burden on industrial establishments.
The judgment also highlighted the need to combine established tax principles with modern approaches while designing and enforcing revenue measures. With these directions, the High Court closed the batch of writ petitions and all pending applications linked to the cases.
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