Nearly 25 years after Michael Jackson, the ‘King of Pop’, enthralled Mumbai, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi on Wednesday reinstated a tax waiver granted to the musical concert.
Michael Jackson performed in Mumbai on November 1, 1996, and during the tour, he had also visited Matoshree and met Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray.
The concert was organised by Shiv Udyog Sena then led by Raj Thackeray.
Raj, who has now left the Shiv Sena and floated Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is Uddhav’s cousin.
The then Shiv Sena-BJP government — led by then Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Deputy Chief Minister late Gopinath Munde — had granted a waiver of Rs 3.36 crore in entertainment duty to Wizcraft Entertainment Agency Pvt Ltd, the event management company.
The waiver was granted as the state government had decided to use the funds collected for charity purposes.
However, the waiver amount was deposited in the court’s treasury after it was challenged in the Bombay High Court by the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, a prominent consumers’ forum.
In 2011, the Bombay High Court had referred the matter back to the government for consideration citing "non-application of mind".
Using discretionary powers under Section 6(3) of the Maharashtra Entertainment Duty Act, 1923, the government decided to give the waiver – as done by the previous Sena-BJP government.
The decision was taken at the weekly Cabinet meeting presided over by Thackeray.
The visit had gained wide media attention. When he had landed on 30 October at the Mumbai airport, actor Sonali Bendre, who wore a ‘nauvari’ saree, welcomed the popstar and applied ‘tilak’ on his head and performed ‘aarti’.
The Thackerays had presented the star a ‘tabla’ and ‘tanpura’ after he visited their Bandra bungalow.
The concert was held at the Andheri Sports Complex.
During the visit, he had also enjoyed Indian cuisine and even mingled with fans.