Fouteen years after the then Sena-BJP government waived taxes for “a classical concert” by Michael Jackson organised by the Shiv Udyog Sena, all eyes will be on the case against the waiver which comes up for hearing in the Bombay high court on Monday.
Consumer rights activist Shirish Deshpande who challenged the waiver finds is amusing how the government had in an affidavit submitted to the court called Whacko Jacko a classical musician.
“I’m sure the pop icon must be turning in his grave because of this,” he said, while recounting why he had filed the case in September 1996, almost a month before the show.
“When late Pramod Navalkar, who was the culture minister, recommended that entertainment tax of nearly Rs11 crore be waived off for the performance, the organisers, Shiv Udyog Sena headed by Raj Thackeray, were not even a registered organisation,” he pointed out.
“What was strange was that the same government was hiking sale tax on medicines citing lack of funds.”
He has also charged Wizcraft, the company which organised the show, with fudging records to show that only a few tickets were sold.
“They wanted to reduce their liability but the video recording made by the collector’s office will clearly show how packed the show was,” Deshpande said.
Repeated attempts to get in touch with Viraf Sarkari, head of Wizcraft, drew a blank and the Sena was clearly on the back foot when asked to react.
The party spokesperson tried to deflect questions on the issue by saying, “This was Raj Thackeray’s brainchild who headed the Shiv Udyog Sena. I think he will be the best person to answer all queries on this.”
But it is not that such largesse is only practiced by the saffron combine. Though Maharashtra hosted 14 of the 60 IPL-3 matches by waiving off Rs12 crore in entertainment tax, the NCP-Congress government ensured not a single rupee came to the state exchequer.
Activists like Ananda Pawar point out how successive governments have written off funds to please their political bosses.
“By 2010, the IPL had come a long way, with the Sahara group bidding Rs1,702 crore for Pune and Rendezvous Sports World forking out Rs1,533 crore for Kochi. In fact, these two bids, worth a total of about Rs3,235 crore, add up to more than the Rs2,853 crore collectively paid by the existing eight franchise owners in the first auctionin 2008,” Pawar said.
“Does this sound like people involved in buying these teams are hard pressed for money?”
The NCP, however, does not like the IPL waiver being equated with the one for the Jackson concert. “They are completely different. The IPL is about sports and the waiver was a way of encouraging this spirit,” defended Pravin Binsale, the party spokesperson.
“Unless the criteria for waivers are made specific these things will continue to remain the sole call of those in power.”
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