Document Fragment View
Fragment Information
Showing contexts for: Set Top Box in Sharad Traders And Another vs State Of U.P. And Others on 21 October, 2011Matching Fragments
Hon. K.N. Pandey, J.
1. The petitioners are distributors of Set Top Boxes, Dish Antenas, Recharge Vouchers of Direct to Home Service (DTH) of M/s Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd. (Writ Petition No.702 of 2011); M/s Bharti Telemedia Ltd. (Writ Petition No.755 of 2011) and M/s Tata Sky Ltd. (Writ Petition No.676 of 2011), under the distributorship agreements.
2. By these writ petitions the petitioners have sought for declaration of Section 2 (f-1); (f-2); 3 (d) and 13 (2) of the Uttar Pradesh Cinemas (Regulation of Exhibition by means of Video) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2011 as ultra vires to the provisions of Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and Art.14, 19 (1) (g), 246 and 265 of the Constitution of India. They have also prayed for quashing the notices dated 19.4.2011 and 26.4.2011 (in Writ Petition No.702 of 2011); notice dated 19.4.2011 (in Writ Petition No.755 of 2011) and notice dated 12.4.2011 (in Writ Petition No.676 of 2011) issued by the District Entertainment Tax Officer (Licensing Authority), Distt. Ghazipur directing them to obtain licenses as 'Television Signal Receiver Agency'.
(vi) any payment made by a person by way of contribution or subscription or installation and connection charges or any other charges collected in any manner whatsoever, by whatever named called, for television exhibition through cable television network or any other such network by whatever name called, attached to television set or any other device at a residential or non-residential place of a connection holder; or
(vii) any payment made by person to the proprietor of a Direct-to-Home service or any other service by whatever name called, by way of contribution or subscription or installation and connection charges or any charges collected in any manner by whatever name called either directly or through any agency established for the purpose for Direct-to-Home service with the aid of set top box or any other device of like nature which connects television set or any other device at a residential or non-residential place of a connection holder directly to the satellite without passing through an intermediary such as cable operator;
(c) Town Area/ others places One thousand five hundred rupees.
Three thousand rupees (3) The licence shall be granted in Form IV appended to these rules.
17. The aforequoted amendments provided to cover DTH services under the Telegraph Act for the purposes of licensing by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to the companies beaming signals to be received by the dish antennas and thereafter to be decoded with the help of Set Top Boxes connected to the television for viewing the moving pictures. The DTH services were brought within the purview of regulation in the State of U.P. by amendments in U.P. Cinemas Regulation Act, 1955; U.P. Cinemas (Regulation of Exhibition by means of Video) Rules, 1988 and the U.P. Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1937 and the Rules framed there under. The Local Distributor defined as Television Signal Receiver Agency, distributing Dish Antennas and Set Top Boxes under an agreement with the license holder under the Telegraph Act, was thus required to obtain license by the U.P. Cinemas (Regulation of Exhibition by means of Video (4th Amendment) Rules, 2011 w.e.f. 31st March, 2011. The District Entertainment Tax Officers were designated by the State Government as Licensing Authorities. In District Ghazipur as in all other districts in the State of U.P. notices were issued by the Licensing Authority to all the Television Signal Receiver Agencies to obtain licenses under Rule 18 on Form-4. The license would require the Television Signal Receiver Agency to maintain records, and to collect and to pay entertainment tax in accordance with the provisions of U.P. Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1979, at such rates as may be prescribed by the State Government, for which the U.P. Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1979 was amended by U.P. Act No.25 of 2009 w.e.f. 16.6.2009.
43. The State legislation in order to keep pace with advanced technology amended the U.P. Act, 1955, to include DTH services in the year 2009. The U.P. Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1979 was correspondingly amended in the same year. The licensing, however, did not cover the local distributor defined as Television Signal Receiver Agency under the amendment carried out in the U.P. Cinema Regulation Act, 1955. The State Government thus thought it fit and found it appropriate to license the place from where the Television Signal Receiver Agency was carrying out its operations. This activity is different than the cable service as defined under the U.P. Cinema Regulation Act, 1955. The State Government in licensing the place from where Television Signal Receiver Agency was operating by keeping his books and equipments, did not seek to regulate the equipment and apparatus of telegraph, but the entertainment, which is made possible through such equipment and apparatus. The amendments in the U.P. Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1979 brought about charges in the definition of 'admission to entertainment', to include DTH service or any other emerging transmission by whatever name called, including DTH Service Ku Band, payment for admission to include any payment by person to the proprietorship of DTH or any other service by whatever name called by way of contribution or subscription or installation of the connection charges for the purposes of direct to home service, with the aid of set top box or any other device of the like nature, which connects television sets or any other device at residential or non-residential place or connection holder directly to the satellite without passing through an intermediary such as cable operator. The words place of entertainment to include a place, where books of accounts or any other relevant records pertaining to entertainment or entertainment of providing cable service by direct to home service or broad-band service under Section 2 (l-1) or change of definition of proprietor under Rule 2 (m) as well as definition of Television Signal Receiver and Television Signal Receiver Agency, was only for the purposes of regulating and for taxing entertainment.