Madras High Court Directs Actor To Pay Entry Tax On His Imported Vehicle

Madras High Court Directs Actor To Pay Entry Tax On His Imported Vehicle

The court said the top-end imported vehicles would be plied on roads made from taxpayers' money and it's the constitutional duty of the actor Dhanush to pay entry tax

The Madras High Court directed a reputed South Indian actor to pay 'Entry Tax' on his imported vehicle by highlighting the importance of constitutional duty.

The matter titled K. Dhanush v The State of Tamil Nadu And Ors was placed before a single-judge court of Justice S.M. Subramaniam in the High Court of Madras.

The facts leading up to this petition is that the Petitioner had purchased one Rolls Royce Ghost FK42 RHD, Diamond Colour car from the United Kingdom. Customs duty was paid by the Petitioner but the Respondent – Authorities directed the Petitioner to get 'Entry Tax Clearance Certificate' for the purpose of new registration of the imported vehicle by paying the necessary Entry Tax.

The Petitioner submitted that he had paid the customs duty and therefore, no further tax was liable to be paid by him. The Petitioner had prayed for an injunction restraining the Respondents from collecting the Entry Tax in respect of the imported vehicle by questioning the concept of levy of Entry Tax.

Later on, the Petitioner sought to withdraw the petition by submitting that he had already paid 50 per cent of the Entry Tax as per the interim order passed by this Court in the year 2015 and the remaining 50 per cent would be paid by him either on 6 August 2021 or on 9 August 2021.

The Respondent – Authorities informed the Court that the balance arrears of Entry Tax to be paid by the Petitioner was ₹30,30,757.

The Court did not allow the writ petition to be withdrawn in a simple manner or be dismissed on the ground that the issues had already been settled since it wanted to pass orders based on the conduct of the Petitioner in order to avoid unnecessary multiplicity of litigations in the future in such similar unwarranted cases.

The Judge noted that the rich affluent and reputed persons were importing a vehicle from other countries and that the State was suffering huge revenue loss for a number of years, as these tax dues were not collected on account of the interim orders granted and due to the pendency of such writ petitions. It made the following observation regarding this issue:

"Every citizen of this great nation has a right to seek constitutional remedy. But if any litigation is instituted, then the responsibility lies that the matter is to be pursued and in the event of finality of the disputed issues, actions are to be taken even on pending cases. It is not as if a litigant can file a case and leave as it is and avoid payment of taxes, even after finality in respect of disputes."

The Court opined that the constitutional perspectives and the manner in which the writ petitions were filed needed to be dealt with for the interest of protecting the rights of the citizens, who approach this Court for redressal of their genuine grievance.

The Court while referring to the Madras High Court Writ Rules, 2021 found that the Petitioner had suppressed his identity by not revealing his profession and therefore, it was construed that the writ petition was filed without furnishing the requisite details, which amounted to suppression of facts.

The Court was of the view that this nation needed to be reminded of their fundamental duties in order to avoid unnecessary ligations before the High Court. The Court highlighted the importance of 'Obiter Dicta' and reminded the duties of the citizen by elaborating the constitutional principles in order to protect the constitutional values and philosophies. The following observation was made regarding 'Obiter Dicta':

"The 'Obiter dicta' as a part of the document is valuable ideas, perspectives, philosophies, visionaries of the Constitution, considered and delivered by the Courts with the assistance of the great lawyers and the Hon'ble Judges."

The Judge further stated that the rights and duties are inseparable and the person, who claims right, must be reminded of his duties. It was observed that every citizen was entitled to claim his right if he was of an opinion that his right was infringed but while dealing with the rights of the citizen, the Constitutional Courts were bound to remind the duties of the citizen under the Constitution to protect the constitutional values and in the interest of the public at large.

The Court recognized the Petitioner's right to seek constitutional remedy but reminded his fundamental duties enunciated under the Constitution by observing the following:

"Citizen commonly not filing writ petitions, seeking exemption from payment of taxes for the essential goods being purchased. Crores and Crores of poor and middle class people of this great Nation is purchasing half litre and one litre petrol for their low end two wheelers and they are not choosing to file cases for levy of tax or seeking exemptions. While so, 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 from abroad on the road within the State of Tamil Nadu. The roads across the State are laid from and out of the taxpayers' money. Thus, reminding the fundamental duty of the citizen is the Constitutional duty of the High Court."

Therefore, the Petitioner was directed by the Court to pay the balance arrears of Entry Tax of ₹30,30,757 as demanded by the Respondent – Authorities, within a period of 48 hours.