JOIN USMadras HC stays single judge order against actor Vijay
A division bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed the operation of order against popular Tamil actor Vijay in a case seeking exemption from paying entry tax to the Tamil Nadu government for his luxurious Rolls Royce Ghost Motor Car imported from Britain in 2012.
The bench of Justices M Duraiswamy and R Hemalatha granted a stay on the order issued by Justice S M Subramaniam dated July 8 which came down on the actor heavily for seeking exemption. The judge had said “cine heroes” are not expected to behave like “reel heroes” and opined that tax evasion is to be construed as “anti-national habit, attitude and mindset and unconstitutional.”
In their order on Tuesday, the bench said the tax demand challan must be issued to the actor within a week. The actor should pay the remaining 80 per cent tax within one week of the receipt of the demand challan issued by the competent authority.
The actor, who imported the vehicle in 2012, paid import duty to the Customs Department as levied under the Customs Act, but sought exemption from paying the entry tax. Vijay had bought the luxurious car in 2012 costing about Rs 6 crore and the Transport Department had sought entry tax which the actor refused to pay and approached the court.
Appearing for actor Vijay, former Advocate General Vijay Narayan said his client was willing to pay the entry tax but wants to expunge the remarks by the single judge and to set aside costs of Rs 1 lakh imposed on him. The actor also complained about "uncharitable" remarks the judge made against actors at large.
In his judgement, the single judge had said the court is of the opinion that the non-payment of entry tax by the actor can never be appreciated and that the “petitioner has not respected nor responded to the lakhs and lakhs of his fans, who have paid by viewing his movies and from and out of such money, the actor purchased the world's prestigious car for his personal usage.”
“The reputed persons of this great nation should realise that the money reaches to them is from the poor man’s blood and from their hard-earned money and not from the sky,” Justice Subramanian had observed.
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