A cinematographic film is not IT software under the GST law, even if delivered via a digital link or hard disk, the Bombay High Court has held while setting aside a tax demand of over Rs 79.7 crore from Karan Johar’s two production companies.
The mode of delivery remains irrelevant to tax classification, a bench of Justices M S Karnik and Sandesh Patil held in the judgment passed on September 10 in a plea filed by Johar’s Dharma Productions and Dharmatic Entertainment.
There is nothing on record to show how a cinematographic film, a passive audio-visual work, incapable of execution, manipulation or interactivity could ever satisfy the statutory definition of “information technology software”, it said.
Whether the content is transmitted physically (hard disks) or electronically, the mode of delivery cannot determine classification, the HC said, adding that there was no statutory basis to equate digital content with software.
The dispute concerned the classification of copyright …
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