A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court issued a notice on Tuesday in response to a petition filed against the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for providing entertainment tax exemption to Telugu films Gautamiputra Satakarni and Rudramadevi.
According to the Times of India, the PIL was filed by Cine Prekshakula Sangham, which claimed that, according to Rule 34 of the Entertainment Rules 1939, tax exemption for a film could not exceed 50%.
However, both the governments had granted 100% exemption to the two films that starred Balakrishna and Anushka respectively.
The petitioner's counsel also alleged that actor Balakrishna was made one of the respondents to the petition, as he was an MLA with the ruling TDP in Andhra, and could have influenced the state's decision.
Besides the two state governments, the HC also issued notices to the producers Rajiv Reddy, Gunasekhar and actor Balakrishna to file counters.
Earlier this year, in a similar instance, an advocate had approached the Hyderabad High Court to challenge the Andhra government's decision regarding Gautamiputra Satakarni.
Advocate PV Krishnaiah had filed the PIL in January on behalf of CB Adarsh Kumar, and was directed to a regular bench by the High Court on the case.
However, the bench reportedly refused to take up the case due to Sankranti vacation.