LUCKNOW: A Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Tuesday quashed a notification whereby the state government had withdrawn Sugar Industry Promotion Policy 2004. The court has held that petitioner sugar companies are entitled for consideration of all the benefits in the form of exemptions/ remission/ reimbursements as per the Sugar Industry Promotion Policy 2004 and various notifications issued there under from time to time for the entire period of the validity of policy. The court further said that since the matter is quite old it would be appropriate that the cases of the petitioner - sugar companies - may be examined and benefits may be given within a maximum period of two months. The sugar industry promotion policy of 2004 envisaged rebates on taxes and stamp duties to millers who were entitled to exemption from entry tax on sugar, trade tax on molasses, stamp duty and registration charges on purchase of land, purchase tax on cane and reimbursement on transport of sugar, and a capital subsidy of 10% on investment. The issue was under litigation with millers seeking sops to bail them out of financial crisis in the wake of high cane production and subsequent rising cane arrears. A bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Shabihul Hasnain passed the above order allowing a bunch of writ petitions moved individually by Mawana Sugars Limited and other sugar companies. The petitioners had challenged the state government's order whereby it had withdrawn the policy. In its verdict, the bench said, "There is no quarrel with the legal proposition that the State is empowered to withdraw a policy but if such policy contained some unequivocal promise and assurance and someone has altered his position acting on such promise then such withdrawal shall have to pass the test of promissory estoppel. There is also no quarrel with the proposition that promissory estoppel must yield to overriding public interest except that the present case does not contain any such overriding public interest."