Action at the Calcutta racecourse

Calcutta, Dec. 25: The Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC) has agreed to pay amusement tax to the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

In a letter to mayor Subrata Mukherjee, the club said it was also ready to withdraw the case filed in Calcutta High Court and pay the tax according to the civic body?s demands.

?I have received a letter from RCTC officials earlier this week in which they have expressed willingness to pay amusement tax,? Mukherjee said today. ?However, the rate of tax will be decided later,? he added.

Mukherjee said the corporation demanded Rs 30,000 for every event at the racecourse as amusement tax. Talks will be held later to fix the rate, he said.

General (retd) Shankar Roy Chowdhury, the former army chief and now Rajya Sabha member, and four other members of RCTC had moved a petition in Calcutta High Court in July 2002 seeking an order to set aside two notifications by the corporation claiming Rs 10 lakh by way of amusement tax from the club for that financial year. The members had also expressed fear that the mayor might ask the club to stop its racing activities if it failed to pay the ?exorbitant? amount demanded.