Service tax on admission to amusement facilities is constitutional

 Brief of the case:

• The Hon’ble Kerala High Court in the above cited case held that the levy of service tax on admission to amusement facilities do not result into any trenching of the Union Parliament on the power conferred on the State as the two aspects taxed by the respective legislatures are the ‘service’ and the ‘amusement’ and no law is invalid in taxing its respective aspect even when the same activity being getting taxed twice under two different laws.
• As such the High court upheld the constitutional validity of service tax on admission to amusement facilities and entertainment events.
  

Facts of the case:

• By way of amendment to Sec 66D containing negative list of services in Finance Act, 2015 w.e.f June 1, 2015 services provided by way of “admission and access to entertainment event and amusement facilities” were removed from negative list and consequently brought into service tax net.
• The petitioner company challenged the constitutional validity of service tax on amusement facilities and entertainment tax as these activities are already subject to entertainment tax levied and collected by the state government.
  

Question to be decided :

• Whether the removal of “admission and access to entertainment event and amusement facilities” [sub-clause (j) of Section 66D of the Finance Act, 1994] from the Negative List of service by an amendment and the consequent imposition of service tax on such activity would result in the Parliament overlapping exclusive power of state government to tax such activity?

Contention of the Petitioner: