TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1993 (10) TMI 305
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....rt of Andhra Pradesh dated 3rd April, 1986, whereby a Division Bench of the High Court struck down section 1 of Act No. 16 of 1985 [the Andhra Pradesh Entertainments Tax (Amendment) Act, 1985] to the extent of its applicability retrospectively between 7th September, 1984 to 24th October, 1984. To appreciate the point it is necessary to deal with the history of the Entertainments Tax Acts in Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh Entertainments Tax Act, 1939 (Act No. 10 of 1939) provided for levy of tax at the fixed rate on the basis of percentage of payment made by a person for admission to any entertainment. However, in 1976 by Act No. 58 of 1976, section 4-C was introduced under which tax was levied on entertainment show on the basis of cer....
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.... the Legislative Council. In this situation Ordinance No. 14 of 1984 was promulgated which was issued on 27th April, 1984 bringing into force sections 3, 6 and 13 with effect from 23rd March, 1984. Amendment Act No. 24 of 1984 received the assent of the Governor on 20th May, 1984. Section 2 of this Amendment Act states "sections 3, 6 and 13 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 23rd March, 1984 and the remaining provisions except section 16 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st January, 1984". Section 3 of this Amendment Act substituted section 4 in the same terms as in the Ordinance No. 9 of 1984. It appears there was a change of Government in Andhra Pradesh and the new Government promulgated Ordinance No. 26 of 1984....
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....ecision which is reported as Venkateshwara Theatre v. State of Andhra Pradesh [1995] 96 STC 130 supra; [1993] 3 SCC 677. It appears the provisions of section 1, sub-section (2), giving retrospective effect as contained in the Amendment Act No. 24 of 1984 was challenged in the batch of writ petitions again. The High Court of the Andhra Pradesh upheld the contention of the petitioners therein and struck down the retrospectivity of the Amendment Act No. 16 of 1985 on the ground that no explanation had been given in the Act providing for retrospectivity of the Amendment Act. As stated above it is against this decision of the High Court that the present appeal is directed. The High Court dealt with the reasonableness of the retrospective provi....
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....shna v. State of Bihar [1963] 50 ITR 171 (SC); [1964] 1 SCR 897 a Constitution Bench of this Court observed thus: "The power of taxing the people and their property is an essential attribute of the Government and Government may legitimately exercise the said power by reference to the objects to which it is applicable to the utmost extent to which Government thinks it expedient to do so. The objects to be taxed so long as they happen to be within the legislative competence of the Legislature can be taxed by the Legislature according to the exigencies of its needs, because there can be no doubt that the State is entitled to raise revenue by taxation. The quantum of tax levied by the taxing statute, the conditions subject to which it is levie....
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....aken by the then Government have decided to restore the system of collection of tax on the basis of gross collection capacity on every show and to revert back to the position as obtained prior to the promulgation of Ordinance No. 26 of 1984 and to repeal the aforesaid Ordinance with retrospective effect from the 7th September, 1984. As the State Legislature was not then in session and as it was considered necessary to give effect to the above decision immediately, the Andhra Pradesh Entertainments Tax (Fourth Amendment) Ordinance, 1984 (Ordinance 31 of 1984) was promulgated by the Governor on the 24th October, 1984." Though it is not for the State to justify or explain the necessity for the amendment even in relation to retrospectivity of....
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....btained order of stay from April, 1966, various other contractors paid sales tax on the sale price of arrack together with excise duty and cess. The Government withdrew the appeal from this Court. In view of the finality of the judgment of the Mysore High Court the Government became liable to refund the excess amount of sales tax collected from the licencees and the contractors. With the object of avoiding liability of refund of the excess amount so collected, Ordinance No. 3 of 1969 was passed on 19th July, 1969 which ultimately became an Act amending the Sales Tax Act. By virtue of this amendment the sales tax was increased from 6½ per cent to 45 per cent and the Act stated that it became effective from 1st April, 1966. In the Obje....