The Madras High Court on Thursday refused to permit actor Dhanush to withdraw his plea seeking entry exemption for his Rolls Royce car from the UK. The HC said: “Actors should act as responsible citizens and should not ply their cars without paying taxes fully.” Justice S.M. Subramaniam came down heavily on the actor for not paying the remaining tax even after the Supreme Court settled the issue in 2018. The court further asked the commercial tax department to inform about the pending amount the actor should pay and ordered the actor to pay the amount before Monday.
This is the second time that the Madras HC has come down on an actor for seeking entry tax exemption for luxury cars. In July, the court had imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on actor Vijay and made scathing remarks over his plea challenging entry tax. Justice S.M. Subramaniam had criticised actors for avoiding payment of taxes and highlighted how important this revenue was for building infrastructure. The judge also commented on how in real life, the behaviour of actors was in stark contrast to their roles onscreen in which they portray themselves as ‘champions of social justice. He said: “These actors portray themselves as champions of social justice. Their movies are against corrupt activities in the society. But, they are evading tax and acting in a manner which is not in consonance with the provisions of the statutes.”
Aggrieved by the “unjust and derogatory” remarks made by the single bench against him and the acting community, Vijay, later, appealed to the division bench of the Madras HC.
