The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), Mohali and Punjab government on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Sarabjit Singh Kahlon, Ludhiana. The petitioner has challenged the exemption granted by the Punjab government to the PCA from payment of entertain duty on sale of tickets for cricket matches organised between April 1, 1995 and December 2005. The petitioner had stated that an entertainment duty on sale of tickets at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, since April 1,1995 comes out to be a whopping amount of Rs 3.02 crore. But the state Cabinet waived off the duty against stiff objection from the Finance ministry and the adverse legal opinion given by the then Legal Remebrancer. The Legal Rememberancer had, in a note dated May 30, 2005, categorically stated that the exemption orders cannot be issued by the state government with retrospective effect and that it can be issued only with prospective effect. He had also opined that if the Administrative department considers that issuance of an exemption order with retrospective effect is necessary in public interest and it is not likely to be challenged in a court of law, then the department may issue the same, but if such an order is challenged in the court of law, then it would be for the administrative department to defend the same. The Cabinet, however, went ahead with proposal to waive the entertainment duty payable by the PCA. The petitioner submitted in the PIL that the Punjab government had no jurisdiction or even justification to waive off entertainment duty payable by a Commercial organisation like PCA, as the tax payers’ money should not be wasted on dolling out relief to commercial organisations, and that too with a retrospective effect, when the law does not permit it. The petitioner has also asked the court that the state government should be directed to recover the entertain duty, with further interest and penalty from the PCA.
