Bombay high court directs Maharashtra govt to decide by May 5 whether it will charge entertainment tax on IPL games
“Cricket has been made a subject of tamasha. It is a very very sad thing,” the Bombay high court remarked on Monday, hearing a PIL by Shiv Sena MLA Subhash Desai which sought that entertainment tax be levied on Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 matches played in Maharashtra.
Petitioner’s counsel Balkrishna Joshi told the court that Punjab and Delhi governments had charged entertainment tax on IPL matches.
A division bench of justice PB Majmudar and justice RG Ketkar directed the government to take a decision on levying entertainment tax on IPL matches before the next hearing of the case on May 5. Government pleader Dhairyasheel Nalavade told the court that the state had decided in May 1964 that all sporting activities would be exempted from tax.
The judges asked him, “This event (IPL matches) is followed by musical night and dance show, feast and other activities. Are all this sporting activities?”
Nalavade said, “In a meeting on January 20, the cabinet discussed about levying entertainment tax on IPL matches in Maharashtra. The decision can also be finalised after the cabinet meeting, and it will have to be a policy decision.
“The state is considering to withdraw the tax exemption on sporting activities. But if only the IPL is singled out, it will be considered an arbitrary decision.”
Nalavade told the court that if the government decides to levy entertainment tax on IPL matches played in the state, it would recover the amount with retrospective effect. Objecting to it, BCCI counsel Raju Subramaniam said that the Constitution does not permit levying of entertainment tax with retrospective effect.
Subramaniam and advocate Neha Bhide informed the court that the board had sold tickets only for the two semi-finals, the third-place playoff and the final. “Tickets for other matches were sold by franchisees,” Subramaniam told the court.
Replying to the court’s query if ministers can hold posts in the BCCI, which is an office of profit, Subramaniam told the court that the constitution of the BCCI permits any individual to hold a post. “Even if the person is an MP or a minister, he is not barred from holding a post,” Subramaniam told the court.
The court asked the government pleader to find out if there is any code of conduct regarding a chief minister or any minister holding a post in the BCCI or any other sports body.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=tracking}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}