Entertainment duty not applicable to billiards tables at members-only clubs: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court recently held that entertainment duty under the Bombay Entertainment Duty Act cannot be levied on Billiards tables at members-only clubs [Santacruz Gymkhana vs State of Maharashtra & Anr.]..A Bench of Justices KR Sriram and Milind Jadhav observed that the facts in the petition were identical to the facts in Gondwana Club vs State of Maharashtra & Ors wherein it was held that billiards tables in the club could not be considered as entertainment under the Act if people were not being charged to use them.The petitions were filed by eight clubs in Mumbai including the National Sports Club of India (NSCI), Bombay Gymkhana and Cricket Club of India (CCI) . The questions raised before the Court were as follows:(a) Whether the Collector (Entertainment Duty Branch) can demand from petitioners entertainment duty on billiard tables kept at the club premises for the exclusive use of its members by equating it to a pool parlour; and (b) Whether the facility of the billiard tables provided by petitioners in their respective clubs can be treated as ‘entertainment’ for the purpose of Bombay Entertainment Duty Act, 1923.In 2004, the NSCI received a notice from the Collector (Entertainment and Duty branch) stating that the club was bound to pay an entertainment duty of ₹5,000 per month per table. NSCI in it's reply to the notice denied any entertainment duty being payable. However, it received another notice in 2006 demanding a compounded sum of ₹ 3,50,002 to be paid as entertainment duty. The other petitioner clubs received similar notices as well. This prompted the to move the High Court. Additional Government Pleader Abhay Patki tried to defend the actions of the respondents but agreed with the court that the facts in Gondwana Club vs State of Maharashtra & Ors would be squarely applicable to the petitions as well.Since the clubs were not charging a fee on the billiards tables, the court answered both the questions before it in the negative and quashed the demand notices issued to them.[Read Order]