HC fines actor Vijay, blasts atempt to evade tax on car
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday imposed a Rs100,000 fine on superstar Vijay and lambasted him for trying to evade taxes which are collected to support the needs of poor people.
Vijay in 2018 had imported a Rolls Royce Ghost car from England for which the government demanded an entry tax.
The actor approached the court seeking exemption.
Justice SM Subramaniam dismissed the plea and asked Vijay to pay the fine to the Chief Minister’s Covid Relief Fund. In his orders, the Justice flayed the atitude of stars who do not bow to the law but are worshipped by the people as heroes.
“The petitioner has imported a prestigious costly car from England. But unfortunately not paid entry tax as per the statutes.
“He filed a writ petition in order to avoid payment of entry tax for the car imported from England.
“The petitioner, who is a reputed film actor, is expected to pay the tax promptly and punctually.” Vijay had not revealed his profession in his plea. “It is surprising to note that the petitioner has not even stated his profession in the affidavit. The affidavit is blank with respect to these particulars.”
He went on to add: “People are under the impression that they are the real heroes. Thus, they are not expected to behave like reel heroes.
Tax evasion is to be construed as an anti-national habit, atitude and mindset and unconstitutional.
“These actors are portraying themselves as champions to bring social justice in the society.
“Their pictures 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.”
Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking 10 million doses of anti-covid vaccine, officials said.
Stalin said the state had received till 8 July only 29,18,110 vaccine doses from the Centre for beneficiaries in the 18-44 age category and 1,30,08,440 for those above the age of 45.
He said the current allocation was inadequate, and the state was finding it extremely difficult to meet the demand for vaccination.
“The success of my government’s efforts to eliminate vaccine hesitancy and make the vaccination drive a mass movement now squarely rests on the doses made available to us.”