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RELEVANT FACTS:
It will be necessary to keep in view a few relevant facts leading to these proceedings. The writ petitioner is a Private Limited Company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956. under an agreement with M/s Parle (Exports) pvt. Ltd., Bombay, the writ petitioner is engaged in the business of bottling soft drinks like Gold Spot, Limca, Thumps-up, soda, Rim-Zim etc. Which are manufactured by Parle Exports. After bottling these beverages at its Plants at Bareilly, the writ petitioner distributes the same to wholesalers in ten districts of Uttar Pradesh, which include amongst others, the respondent-Municipalities, namely, the Municipal Boards of Moradabad, Rampur, Sahajahanpur and Pilibhit. According to the writ petitioner- company after the beverages are consumed the consumers within the municipal limits the bottles empty state are returned to it and the title and ownership in the bottles also remain with it. The Uttar Pradesh State Legislature enacted an Act in 1916 called the U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). Under Section 128 thereof powers were conferred on the Municipal Board governed by the State Act to impose an octroi on goods or animals brought within the municipality for consumption, use or sale therein. Under Section 298 of the Act, the Municipal Boards are empowered to frame bye-lays for various purposes of the Act. The bye-laws of Municipal Boards of Moradabad, Rampur, Pilibhit and Sahajahanpur were enforced during the period from 12.05.1977 to 01.09.1982. According to the writ petitioner, these bye laws provided for levying octroi on soft drinks like Cococola, Fanta, Vimgo, Soda Water, Lemon etc. but they did not permit levying octroi on the weight of bottles which contained these soft drinks. As the respondent- Municipalities were seeking to levy octroi on the basis of gross weight not only of the beverages contained but also of the bottles containing the beverages which were brought within the municipal limits of the aforesaid Municipalities, the writ petitioner company filed three writ petitions in the High Court of judicature at Allahabad in the year 1983. The grievance made in the writ petition was that from 1980 onwards the respondent-