Actor Dhanush's six-year battle against the entry tax imposed on his Rolls Royce car had come to an end on Thursday with the big blow as the single-bench judge of the Madras High Court had come down hard against the actor, directing him to pay the tax within 48 hours. Justice SM Subramaniam, who slammed actor Vijay last month for fighting against paying the tax for his luxurious car, had now kept the same degree of condemnation against Dhanush with harch criticisms. 

Dhanush has imported a Rolls Royce car in 2015 from the UK 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 had come close to the final verdict on Thursday. Single-bench judge Justice SM Subramaniam had come down hard on Dhanush when his advocate has said that the actor is willing to pay the remaining tax amount and pleaded with 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.

The Judge said, "Citizen enjoying reputation in the society on importing most prestigious and luxury car of the world from England is expected to pay the Entry tax to the state government as they are plying the imported luxury car on the road with the state of Tamil Nadu. The roads across the state are made out of the taxpayers' money. Hence, reminding the fundamental duty of the citizen is the constitutional duty of the High Court." 

The Justice further added, "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.

Responding to the appeal from Dhanush's advocate to withdraw the petition, Justice Subramaniam said, "We can't have litigants file the case in the court and later change their minds and agree to pay the tax. We are already overburdened by cases." The Justice had directed the High Court registry not to entertain such cases with incomplete details with the litigant not mentioning his profession as Dhanush has failed to describe his profession in the petition. 

Highlighting the Vexatious Litigation Act, the Justice said, "Due to such cases taking up court's time, several important cases are left pending." He had then directed the concerned commercial tax officer to be present in the courtroom with a demand for the pending tax to be paid by the actor. He had then adjourned the hearing to Thursday afternoon. When the hearing resumed, the Justice has pronounced the final verdict and directed Dhanush to pay the remaining tax amount within 48 hours. 

The Justice said, "The petitioner is directed to pay the balance arrears of the Entry Tax of Rs 30,30,757.00, as demanded by the respondents, within a period of 48 hours." It must be noted that Vijay and Dhanush had fought against the entry tax in a similar battle and it was the same judge who passed the orders for both the cases. Last month, in the case of Vijay, Justice Subramaniam had ordered him to pay the rest of the entry tax for his Rolls Royce car along with Rs 1 lakh fine. 

However, Vijay had then earned the order from the Madras High Court of repealing the fine order with the assurance that he will pay the entry tax. 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.