[Civil Appeal Nos. 5307-5308 of 2005]. The Appellant before us assail the concurrent findings of the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad, upholding the legality of the levy of an Administrative Fee at the rate of 50 paise per bulk litre or any other rate as may be fixed by the Government from time to time on industrial alcohol obtained from a distillery. The Appellant is a manufacturer of Ethyl Acetate, the basic raw material for which is industrial alcohol. The Appellant has been receiving allotments of denatured spirit from the Respondents since 1972. By way of an amendment to Rule 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Denatured Spirit and Denatured Spirituous Preparations Ruled, 1971 (1971 Rules for brevity), the collection of a gallonage fee, under the head of privilege fees, at the rate of 1 per bulk litre was introduced. The Appellant filed a writ petition in 1995 contending that the levy and collection of such an amount without rendering any service is illegal, arbitrary and without justification.
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