Karnataka High Court Quashes Notices Behind 2% Cinema Cess Order; Welfare Act Not Yet Notified

The petitioners challenged intimation notices dated 4 and 10 August 2026 (Annexures B1 and B2) and an office order dated 29 August 2026 (Annexure C), issued by the Labour Commissioner, directing mandatory collection and remittance of a 2% cess on cinema tickets from 1 September 2026. They also questioned the validity of the Karnataka Cine and Cultural Workers (Welfare) Act, 2024. Their case was that the Act comes into force only on a date the State Government appoints by notification in the Official Gazette, no such notification had been issued, and the office order was therefore without jurisdiction (para 2).

When the matter was listed the previous day, Justice H.T. Narendra Prasad had directed the Additional Government Advocate to take notice and get instructions (para 3). The State then filed a memo enclosing an office order of 9 September 2026 withdrawing the office order of 29 August, and stated that the Government "has not yet notified the date of commencement of the said Act in the Official Gazette" (para 4). In view of that position, the Court held that "even the impugned intimation notices at Annexures B1 and B2 are without jurisdiction" and had to be quashed (para 5). The 29 August office order needed no quashing because it had been withdrawn (para 6(iii)). The challenge to the validity of the Act did not arise for consideration at this stage, since no notification had been issued, and all contentions of the parties were kept open (para 6(iv)-(v)). The order therefore does not decide whether the 2024 Act or the cess is valid; it holds only that the intimation notices were without jurisdiction while the Act's commencement remained un-notified (paras 5-6).