Twitter
Advertisement

MCA yet to respond to service tax googly

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is caught in a quagmire of its own making. The association will probe the matter of 405 unsold tickets for the 2011 WC final today — they have also summoned the then MCA treasurer, Ratnakar Shetty, among others — but another pertinent issue is awaiting an answer.

After the final at the Wankhede in April 2011, the MCA had claimed a refund of entertainment tax against the unsold tickets. The amount is believed to be in the range of Rs80 lakh, majority of them priced at Rs37,500 each. Dna understands that some officials from the entertainment tax department had also made a request for a few World Cup-final tickets. The MCA, according to well-placed sources, turned them down claiming that the match was ‘sold out’.

In February this year, the service tax commissioner wrote a letter to the MCA asking how the association could claim entertainment tax when no seats were available for the final. The MCA had least expected this googly, and the matter was subsequently raised in one of the AGMs. As per the disclosure at the meeting, the net loss was estimated to be Rs80 lakh.

One official, whose name is withheld, is alleged to have bought tickets from the MCA’s quota and sold it to an event management company. Apparently, he acquired tickets for all the top World Cup matches including the India-Pakistan semifinal in Mohali.

Initially, the MCA instituted an inquiry committee on the insistence of one of their vice-presidents, with the permission of former president Vilasrao Deshmukh.

However, the matter was put in cold storage for reasons best known to the body.

MCA’s top office-bearers had asked the official for an explanation, but he is yet to provide a convincing answer.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement