Hearing a 2015 plea by actor Dhanush challenging the entry tax on his imported Rolls-Royce Ghost car, the Madras High Court said, “Actors should act as responsible citizens and should not ply their cars without paying taxes fully.”
Justice S M Subramaniam also came down on the national award-winning actor for not disclosing his profession in his plea and directed him to explain on Friday.
The court also ordered authorities to be present this afternoon so they could compute and give details of the balance the actor still must pay.
The 38-year-old actor had paid a little more than Rs 30 lakh in 2015 – 50 per cent of the entry tax demanded and had gone to court challenging it based on past court rulings against entry tax then. And although later the Supreme Court had upheld it, Dhanush had not withdrawn the case.
Today the actor told the court he is willing to pay the pending tax amount and sought the court’s nod to withdraw the case.
Speaking to NDTV, the actor’s lawyer Vijayan Subramanian said, “The earlier counsel had passed away. I don’t know why the profession wasn’t divulged. Now he (Dhanush) is willing to pay it (the tax) fully. We asked for a notice so it can be done before Monday.”
For the second time in less than a month the Madras High Court has come down heavily on two actors over old petitions challenging imposition of entry tax on their imported Rolls Royce Ghost cars.
In another case last month, the court had imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on actor Vijay who had challenged the same tax. In his order, Justice Subramaniam said, “Actors are not expected to behave like reel heroes. Tax evasion is to be construed as an anti-national habit… and unconstitutional.”
However, a two-member bench stayed the fine and the order after Vijay sought to expunge those remarks.
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