The Madras High Court said on Thursday that with the exemption from entertainment tax granted to Rajinikanth-starrer ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ still valid, the tax should not be collected from filmgoers.
The release of the film is scheduled for Friday.
A vacation bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Mahadevan passed the interim order on a public interest litigation petition.
Advocate S. Muthiah said in his petition that initially the government had issued a government order (G.O.), of July 21, 2011, stating that exemption from entertainment tax would be given only to films that bore Tamil names.
The High Court had already stayed its operation.
When the producers of ‘Tenaliraman’ sought tax exemption, the government refused their request, saying the court had stayed the G.O. Nor was there any exemption for ‘Yennamo Yedho’.
But the government granted tax exemption to ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ by a G.O. of May 12. When the main G.O. itself had been stayed, no exemption could be given to any film, he said.
Mr. Muthiah argued that the purpose of tax exemption was to promote public interest, and the government had committed a grave error by granting exemption to the film. He prayed that the court quash the May 12 order.
However, the judges allowed the tax exemption for ‘Kochadaiiyaan’.
