Madras High Court passes judgement in favour of Thalapathy Vijay’s appeal! – Deets inside

Thalapathy Vijay is a leading film star in the Indian film industry. The actor had filed an appeal to remove the scorching comments made on him by the judge in the judgement of his decade-old writ petition for tax exemption on one of his luxury cars. Now, the Madras High Court has annulled the observations made by the single judge bench.

In 2012, actor Vijay had filed a writ petition in the Chennai High Court seeking entry tax exemption for his Rolls Royce Ghost Motor Car. The case came up for hearing last July, almost nine years after the petition was filed. On July 13, Justice SM Subramaniam dismissed the petition and made harsh comments by taking a dig at the star. The single bench’s observations stated that while his reel life characters were preaching tax compliance, in real life he was seeking exemption and included one becomes a ‘real hero’ by promptly paying tax.

The judgement read, “Tax evasion is to be construed as an anti-national habit, attitude 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 society. But they are evading Tax and acting in a manner, which is not in consonance with the provisions of the Statutes.” Also, the court fined Rs 1 lakh and asked the actor to donate the money to Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Vijay’s side made an appeal in the Madras High Court saying that such remarks were wholly unjustified and uncalled for. He had said in the appeal that the fine of one lakh rupees imposed on him should be quashed and the criticisms leveled against him should be removed from the verdict. In the appeal, Senior Counsel Vijay Narayan stated that the outstanding tax of 32 lakh 30 thousand rupees has been paid on August 7 and added that there is no need to mention the profession in the case documents.

The appeal further read that it is unnecessary to comment that the lawsuit was filed to avoid paying taxes. The counsel also contended that Vijay was branded as an ‘anti-national’ and the observations made by the Judge created negative publicity for the Actor. Today, a Division Bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Mohammed Shaffiq removed the scorching comments made in the previous judgement while hearing the appeal filed by Actor Vijay and dismissed the connected miscellaneous petitions with no costs.