Can't appreciate tax exemption for IPL: HC

CHENNAI: “This court cannot appreciate tax exemption for IPL games,” the First Bench of the Madras high court, comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam, has said. This statement was made while passing orders on a public interest petition filed by Sakthi Vasan of Valasarawakkam as a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to regulate the conduct of IPL matches in the state according to the Tamil Nadu Entertainment Tax and Tamil Nadu Cinemas Regulation Act and to allow matches during day time only.The contention of the petitioner is that IPL matches conducted by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) are for the entertainment of the public.The tickets are sold at exorbitant rates of Rs 25,000 or Rs 40,000.
Noting that the home secretary ed that with IPL matches place only as day-and-night matches, a huge amount of electricity was spent. While a huge section the population, on the one suffered power cuts for hours, the other hand, state authorities were permitting a “huge corruption of electricity for entertainment of the richer class,” petition said. Passing orders, the First observed that there is no authority to regulate the tariff for entertainment nor are the organisers games paying entertainment “Prima facie, the grounds by the petitioner appear to wellconsidered,” the Bench Adding that the counsel for and TNCA as well as the government pleader had sought file a counter-affidavit, the was posted for further hearing July 14.
Adding that authorities from the commercial taxes department were not initiating any steps to collect entertainment tax for the conduct of IPL matches, the petitioner said that collection of entertainment
tax would augment government revenue and enable the state to spend more on welfare measures. Maharashtra amended the
Mumbai Entertainment Tax Act, 1923, through a government resolution in June 2010 to bring one-day cricket matches within its ambit.