Actor Dhanush has on Thursday faced what his peer actor Vijay has faced in the fight against paying the entry tax after the Madras High Court has refused the former from granting exemption of the entry tax to his luxurious vehicle. In what has become two different tales and one climax, the same judge, who came down hard on Vijay, has now kept the equal scale of condemnation to Dhanush for seeking exemption from paying entry tax for importing a Rolls Royce car from the UK. 

According to reports, the single-judge bench of Madras High Court has on Thursday refused to permit actor Dhanush to withdraw a plea that he filed in 2015 seeking exemption from entry tax for the import of a Rolls Royce car from the UK. When the plea came up for hearing, Dhanush's advocate had informed the court that the actor had already paid 50% of the tax and now, he was willing to pay the remaining due. He sought the court to permit him to withdraw the plea.

Justice SM Subramaniam has refused to allow Dhanush to withdraw the plea and said that the petition has been pending since 2015. The judge said, "If your (Dhanush) intentions are genuine, you should have paid the tax at least after the Supreme Court settled the issue in 2018. But now, after the High court has listed the matter for passing the order, you are seeking to withdraw the petition." The judge has said that it doesn't matter how many cars are bought, but proper tax must be paid for every car.
 
Justice Subramaniam has noted, "You are driving the luxury car on the roads constructed using the taxpayers' money. Even a milk vendor and a daily wage labourer are paying taxes for every litre of petrol they buy. No such person approaches the High Court seeking exemption from such taxes. At least I have not seen such a plea in my experience." By citing that its actor's right to approach the court, the judge said he should have paid the tax and withdrawn the petition at least after the Supreme Court has settled the issue in 2018." 

The judge had directed the commercial tax officer concerned to be present in the courtroom with a demand for the pending tax to be paid by the actor by 2.15 pm today. He said that he will pass the final orders after that and adjourned the hearing. While Justice Subramaniam has said that the act of evading tax is considered an anti-national habit when he heard the petition moved by actor Vijay against the entry tax levied on his Rolls Royce car that he bought from the UK in 2012, he has now staunchly condemned actor Dhanush for seeking exemption from the tax and withdrawal of the petition when it is close to having a final verdict. 

Dhanush has imported a luxurious car in 2015 for which he had paid import tax. However, the Tamil Nadu commercial taxes department has directed Dhanush to pay the entry tax of Rs 60.66 lakh for his car post which registration will be done. The actor has then decided to initiate a legal fight against the directive of the commercial taxes department and the entry. 

He has filed a petition to the Madras High Court in 2015 seeking a directive to revoke the order from the department and to repeal the entry tax for his car. In the successive hearings, the single-judge bench has ordered Dhanush to pay 50 per cent of the entry tax to register his car. With the order, the reports say that the actor has paid Rs 30.33 lakh as entry tax and completed the registration process. 

Six years after moving his petition, Dhanush's plea is close to the final verdict on Thursday and it will be penned by the same judge, who came down hard on Vijay for evading the entry tax. By invoking Rs 1 lakh fine for Vijay, the judge has said, "People are under the impression that they are real heroes. Hence, they are not expected to be like reel heroes. The act of evading tax is considered an anti-national habit and unconstitutional. These actors are displaying themselves as the saviour of social justice on the screens but they are evading tax, which is not in consonance with the provisions of the statutes."

Justice Subramaniam had levied a penalty of Rs 1 lakh for Vijay. However, the actor had then moved his petition of appeal to the Madras High Court to challenge the judgment of the single-judge bench and to remove objectionable comments against him. The counsel of Vijay had argued that the order from the single-judge bench has contained adverse remarks which created negative publicity for the actor. Vijay has expressed that he is ready to pay the entry tax and sought a directive to repeal the penalty of Rs 1 lakh. 

Vijay's case has happened last month and after hearing his petition, the Madras High Court bench has stayed the order of fine of Rs 1 lakh. While he got relief from paying the penalty, the court had directed him to pay the entry tax for his Rolls Royce vehicle. Similarly, the court has on Thursday didn't repeal the entry tax for Dhanush as the tale of two legal battles from Vijay and Dhanush against the entry tax for their respective Rolls Royce car had come to an end with one climax, written by the same judge, that both of them should and agreed to pay the entry tax.