Dhanush in Trouble as Madras HC asks actor to pay Rs 30 Lakh in 48 Hours over Rolls Royce tax
Chennai, Aug 06: After top star Vijay, actor Dhanush on Thursday received a court rap for challenging Entry Tax on import of a luxury car, with the judge remarking that lesser earning individuals were promptly paying taxes and not knocking at the doors of the judiciary for possible relief.
Justice SM Subramaniam, who had earlier made some strong observations against Vijay for moving the court against levy of Entry Tax for his imported Rolls Royce Ghost car earlier, on Thursday directed Dhanush to pay a sum of Rs 30.30 lakh within 48 hours.
"You drive the luxury car on the roads laid using the taxpayers'' money. Even a milk vendor and a daily wage labourer are paying taxes for every litre of petrol they buy. None of them approach the court seeking exemption from such taxes," the judge said.
After pulling up the national award-winning actor- producer for moving the Court challenging the imposition of entry tax for the import of his Rolls Royce Ghost car for Rs 2.15 crore from England in 2015, the judge directed Dhanush to pay Rs 30.30 lakh, the balance amount of the entry tax within 48 hours, to the Commercial Tax department. Dhanush had paid half of the Rs 60.60 lakh of entry tax earlier.
Luxury car tax evasion: Court stays critical order passed against actor Vijay
The
judge
also
directed
the
Registry
to
ensure
that
affidavits
filed
by
the
litigants
in
writ
petitions
are
entertained
on
compliance
of
the
requirements
as
contemplated
under
the
''Madras
High
Court
Writ
Rules,
2021''.
As
Dhanush
did
not
mention
his
profession
in
the
column
before
filing
the
petition
and
left
it
blank,
the
judge
gave
this
direction.
"Dhanush had suppressed the fact", the judge remarked. In the event of any lapses, negligence or dereliction on the part of the officials concerned, the Registrar-General of the High Court shall initiate appropriate action under the Service Rules in force, the judge added. When the petition came up before the judge earlier in the morning, he rapped Dhanush for not paying the entry tax promptly, even after the Supreme Court had directed him to do so.
Possibly fearing being pulled up, like Vijay, Dhanush''s counsel prayed for court''s permission to withdraw his petition.
The judge, however, refused to oblige. The counsel told the judge Dhanush had already paid 50 per cent of the tax and now he was willing to pay the remainder. Hence, he might be allowed to withdraw the petition, the counsel said, adding that he had filed necessary memo in this regard. Rejecting the plea, the judge pointed out that the petition was pending since 2015.
"If your intentions are genuine, you should have paid the tax at least after the Supreme Court settled the issue in 2018. Now after the High Court listed the matter for orders, you are seeking to withdraw," the judge said.
"No doubt that it is your right to move the court. But you should have paid the tax and withdrawn the petition at least after the apex court had settled the issue in 2018," the court added.
The judge then directed the commercial tax officer concerned to be present in the court with a demand for the pending tax to be paid by the actor by afternoon. In the afternoon, the judge recorded the demand notice from the CTO and passed the order.