ACTO Vs. SPACE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these revision petitions seek to challenge the judgments passed by the Rajasthan Tax Board dated 18/6/2008, 27/6/2008, 22/7/2008, 30/7/2008 and 29/10/2009 by which Tax Board decided 11, 15 and 26 appeals, respectively. One set of revision petitions have been filed by the Revenue, which is authorised to collect the entertainment tax under the Rajasthan Entertainment and Advertisement Tax Act, 1957 (for short, the "Act of 1957") against the judgments of the Rajasthan Tax Board dated 18/6/2008, 27/6/2008, 22/7/2008 and 30/7/2008, whereby orders of assessment for recovery of entertainment tax from the assessees in those cases have been set-aside. Another batch of revision petitions have been filed by the assessees against the subsequent judgment of the Rajasthan Tax Board dated 29/10/2009, which while partly accepting the appeals, held that the assessee were not required to pay any tax for first two years and remanded the matter to the Assessing Officer for fresh assessment for subsequent three years. All the matters were clubbed together because they involve questions with regard to interpretation and applicability of the same gazette notification/s issued by the government and therefore they were heard together and are now being decided by this common judgment.

(2.) The controversy that has arisen in the present case is result of different notifications issued by the government in exercise of its powers conferred under sub-section (2) of Section 7 of the Act of 1957. Stand of the assessees in all these cases is that they made huge investments in the purchase of land and construction of multiplex cinema halls motivated by notification of the Government of Rajasthan in its Finance Department dated 15/3/1996. The notification dated 15/3/1996 issued by the government, provided that the government in public interest has decided to exempt the new cinema halls from the purview of realising the entertainment tax for a period of five years subject to the condition that commercial exhibition in such cinema halls is started by 31/3/2000.

(3.) Contention of the assessees is that the government issued this notification with the avowed objective of encouraging construction of cinema halls, which business had received a serious set back on account of increase in the popularity of television, video cassettes and DVDs etc. Subsequently, the date 31/3/2000 upto which commercial exhibition was required to be started as per the aforesaid notification dated 15/3/1996, was extended upto 31/3/2002 vide another notification of the government dated 30/3/2000. Most of the assessees by that time started commercial exhibition after procuring license from the District Magistrate / District Collector, who is the Licensing Authority under the Rajasthan Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1952 (for short, the "Act of 1952"). The licensing authority in Column No.7.3 of the license that were issued to the assessees specifically mentioned that assessee / licensee would be entitled to exemption of the entertainment tax for a period of five years from the date of commencement of the commercial exhibition in terms of the government notification dated 15/3/1996 read with notification dated 30/3/2000. The licensing authority in the license itself has prescribed the admission rate for different classes but has indicated Nil amount in the column relating to entertainment tax. The assessee therefore could not have actually charged the entertainment tax and has actually not charged the same. There was thus no question of imposing such tax by the impugned order as change of opinion by the authorities of particular notification or its applicability or otherwise of that notification or attractibility of another subsequent notification, cannot be basis for imposition of such a tax.