Madras HC rejects Dhanush's plea on Rolls Royce tax exemption

A single bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday refused to permit actor Dhanush to withdraw a plea for exemption from entry tax for import of a Rolls Royce car from the United Kingdom. The plea was made in 2015.

Dhanush is also the son-in-law of south Indian mega star, Rajinikanth.

The court censured the actor for failing to pay the tax even after the matter was settled by the Supreme Court in 2018.

On Thursday, when the plea came up for hearing before Justice S.M. Subramaniam, counsel for Dhanush told the court that the actor had already paid 50 per cent of the tax and that he was willing to pay the balance. The counsel requested the court to permit him to withdraw the plea.

However, the court refused to let Dhanush withdraw the plea and said that the matter was pending since 2015.

The court said, "If your intentions were genuine you should have paid the tax when the Supreme court settled the matter in 2018. But now after the High Court listed it for passing the order, you are seeking to withdraw."

The court came out heavily on the actor and said that even a milk vendor or a daily wage labourer is paying the taxes for every litre of petrol he buys and no such person has approached the High Court seeking exemption from such taxes.

The court said, "No doubt you have the right to move the court but you should have paid the tax and withdrawn the petition at least after the Supreme court settled the issue in 2018."

The court also asked the actor's counsel as to whether he knew of the 'Vexatious Litigation Act'. The court said that it was not able to settle genuine issues due to such pending petitions.

The Madras High Court's single bench had on July 13 come down heavily on Tamil superstar, Vijay while dismissing a similar plea moved by him seeking tax exemption.