Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has allowed the Excise and Taxation department to collect entertainment tax from water parks strictly in accordance with the relevant laws.

Great Fiesta Water Park located in Karachi and Sunway Lagoon Park in Gharo had petitioned in the high court challenging the authority of provincial excise department to collect entertainment tax from them.

The two firms also challenged the department’s decision to revoke its earlier notifications that allowed the water parks to make payment of the government duty through fixed mode and pay the duty on regular basis instead of as per actual sale of tickets.

A two-member bench disposed of the two identical petitions while upholding the department’s decision to collect entertainment tax from them under the Section 3 and 5 of the Sindh Entertainment Act 1958.

The ruling says that the excise department’s entertainment wing would be at total liberty to collect entertainment duty from the water parks strictly in accordance with law, keeping in view the Section 3 and 5 of the Act on regular monthly basis.

The judgment also made it clear that any previous orders passed by the excise and taxation authorities for collection of entertainment duty would not constitute a precedent for future levy and collection of entertainment duty, which shall be charged strictly in accordance with law.

The bench directed the petitioners to deposit the entire entertainment duty due until Feb 28 with the Nazir of the ocurt within seven days from the date of the order. Afterwards, the entire amount shall be released in favour of the relevant department, it added.

Meanwhile, another bench summoned the provincial secretary of cultural heritage department to appraise it of whether the list of protected heritage sites was revised.

The bench had taken up a petition against the provincial authorities for declaring the Hotel Metropole as a protected heritage.

During previous hearing, the provincial law officer had informed the court the meeting of Technical Committee of Sindh´s Cultural Heritage will be conducted to reconsider the impugned list of protected heritage site. There is a possibility that immoveable property involved in one or all the petitions may be deleted from the list or the entire list may be revised

Karachi Property Investment Company (Pvt) Ltd petitioned the high court, submitting that back in 1967 it had acquired the ownership of the land and building of the Metropole hotel built in the latter part of the 20th century.

The hotel was closed down in 2004 and a part of it was demolished. It was said that now the building housed only rented out commercial offices.

The petitioner stated that the culture department through a notification included the hotel in the 1,061 buildings declared as heritage structures. The hotel was built in a modern style of architecture and had no archaeological value, nor did it have any distinctive architectural features to allow it to be listed as cultural heritage.

The petitioner had asked the court to restrain the authorities from giving effect to the notification.