“Actors should act as responsible citizens and should not ply their vehicles without paying full taxes,” the Madras High Court stated in a 2015 hearing on actor Dhanush’s challenge to the entry tax on his imported Rolls-Royce Ghost car.
The national award-winning actor was also chastised by Justice S M Subramaniam for failing to disclose his profession in his plea and was ordered to explain himself on Friday.
The court also ordered officials to appear this afternoon in order to compute and describe the remaining sum owed by the actor.
In 2015, the 38-year-old actor paid a little more than Rs. 30 lakh – half of the entrance tax sought – and went to court to challenge it, citing previous court judgments against entry taxes. Despite the fact that the lawsuit was ultimately affirmed by the Supreme Court, Dhanush did not drop it.
The actor informed the court today that he is prepared to pay the outstanding tax amount and that he wants the matter dismissed.
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 ₹ 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.
