Four group companies face Rs 4.3315747 crore entry-tax demands

Hind Polyfabs Private Limited, Jupax Vanijya Private Limited, Maruti Packagers Private Limited and Rateria Laminators Private Limited have filed separate Supreme Court petitions over stated retrospective West Bengal entry-tax demands totalling Rs 4.3315747 crore, excluding interest and late fees. The demands cover April 2012 to June 2017 and followed a January 30, 2025 Calcutta High Court ruling restoring the levy.

Why are the four group companies challenging the entry-tax demands?

The four group companies are challenging the retrospective levy, the resulting tax liabilities and the 2017 amendments to the West Bengal Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 2012. Each entity filed a Special Leave Petition, or SLP, on March 16, 2026 against the State of West Bengal and others, seeking the Supreme Court's intervention after the Calcutta High Court ruling.

An SLP is a request for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The disclosures state that the four group companies have raised legal and constitutional grounds against the January 30, 2025 High Court judgment, the 2017 amendments and the consequential demands, but do not describe the specific grounds or state that the Supreme Court has admitted any of the four petitions.

The dispute arises from a change in the treatment of the 2017 amendments. In its common order of March 25, 2022 in R.N. 08/2018, the West Bengal Taxation Tribunal had struck down the amendments supporting retrospective entry tax. The Calcutta High Court then set aside that Tribunal order in WPTT No. 6 of 2023, cited as WPPT No. 6 of 2023 in Rateria Laminators' disclosure, restoring the levy for April 2012 to June 2017.

Which entities make up the Rs 4.3315747 crore exposure?

The four group companies have individual stated entry-tax demands from Rs 62.05411 lakh to Rs 1.593809 crore, with Hind Polyfabs facing the largest amount. The combined Rs 4.3315747 crore is the sum of stated entry-tax demands and excludes interest and late fees, which are mentioned separately for every petitioner but are not quantified in the disclosure.

Hind Polyfabs filed SLP (C) No. 12609 of 2026 over a stated demand of Rs 1.593809 crore. Hind Polyfabs supplies articles of plastics and other materials from Domjur, Howrah, West Bengal, and received a February 16, 2026 communication requiring payment under the West Bengal Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 2012.

Jupax Vanijya filed SLP (C) No. 13099 of 2026 over Rs 82.34329 lakh. Jupax Vanijya operates from Jungalpur, Howrah, West Bengal, and its payment communication was dated February 17, 2026, one day later than the February 16, 2026 communications disclosed for the other three entities.

Maruti Packagers filed SLP (C) No. 13095 of 2026 over Rs 1.2937917 crore, while Rateria Laminators filed SLP (C) No. 13093 of 2026 over Rs 62.05411 lakh. Both companies supply articles of plastics and other materials from Domjur, Howrah. Their combined stated demands of Rs 1.9143328 crore account for about 44.2% of the aggregate disclosed entry-tax amount.

What did the Calcutta High Court ruling change?

The January 30, 2025 Calcutta High Court ruling restored a retrospective entry-tax levy that the Taxation Tribunal had invalidated in March 2022. That change is the stated basis for the February 2026 payment communications and the four SLPs filed in March 2026.

The restored levy applies to April 2012 through June 2017, a period of five years and three months. Although the amendments were introduced in 2017, the disclosed demands apply them retrospectively to that earlier period. The four group companies therefore contest both the historical tax liability and the legal mechanism that reinstated it.

The disclosures also identify earlier Supreme Court challenges to the High Court judgment. In SLP (C) No. 1103 of 2025 and SLP (C) No. 11038 of 2025, the Supreme Court directed on March 24, 2025 that no coercive steps be taken against the petitioners in those cases. The disclosures do not state that those directions apply to the four group companies or to SLP (C) Nos. 12609, 13099, 13095 and 13093 of 2026.

How do the demands fit the disclosed litigation framework?

The entry-tax proceedings are disclosed as actions by statutory and regulatory authorities, for which the company's July 22, 2025 material-litigation policy requires disclosure of outstanding direct- and indirect-tax claims under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018. The policy does not make tax disclosure conditional on the civil-litigation monetary threshold.

For civil litigation, the board identified a lowest threshold of Rs 47.61 lakh, equal to 5% of the average absolute profit or loss after tax for the preceding three financial years. The other measures were 2% of turnover at Rs 7.5106 crore and 2% of net worth at Rs 1.2668 crore. Even the smallest stated entry-tax demand, Rateria Laminators' Rs 62.05411 lakh, exceeds the Rs 47.61 lakh civil threshold by Rs 14.44411 lakh, although the tax matters are separately disclosable.

The entry-tax dispute is distinct from other matters listed for the group companies. Jupax Vanijya has an income-tax appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal concerning a Rs 46.50 lakh addition for assessment year 2017-18, while Maruti Packagers has a service-tax appeal pending before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal. Those proceedings concern different taxes and authorities and are not included in the Rs 4.3315747 crore entry-tax total.

What remains unresolved in the Supreme Court cases?

The four SLPs remain pending before the Supreme Court, with no hearing date, interim order or final outcome disclosed. The unresolved issues include the validity of the January 2025 High Court judgment, the retrospective effect of the 2017 amendments and each entity's consequential entry-tax liability.

Interest and late fees remain an additional unquantified component of the exposure. The stated aggregate of Rs 4.3315747 crore will remain limited to the disclosed tax demands unless the four group companies obtain relief, the State revises the demands, or further interest and late-fee amounts are specified in subsequent proceedings.

Conclusion

The four group companies face a shared retrospective entry-tax issue rather than four unrelated tax assessments: every SLP challenges the same January 30, 2025 Calcutta High Court ruling and concerns April 2012 to June 2017. The individual demands range from Rs 62.05411 lakh to Rs 1.593809 crore, making the legal outcome relevant to each entity's stated liability as well as to the unquantified interest and late fees.

The next disclosed development to watch is an order in SLP (C) Nos. 12609, 13099, 13095 and 13093 of 2026, all filed on March 16, 2026. A key unresolved matter is whether the Supreme Court will issue directions for these four petitioners comparable to the no-coercive-steps directions made on March 24, 2025 in the separately identified earlier SLPs.