Actor-turned-politician Vijay Thalapathi has suffered another big shock. Madras High Court rejected his petition on Friday (6 February). The actor had challenged the order of the Income Tax Department, in which a fine of Rs 1.5 crore was imposed on him. The single bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamurthy gave this decision.
Why was Vijay Thalapathi fined?
The matter pertains to the 2015-16 financial year, the Income Tax Department imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 crore on the South actor for not disclosing income of Rs 15 crore in the financial year. The court said in its order, the show cause notice was issued within the time limit under Section 263 of the Income Tax Act. The court did not find any flaw in the manner of issuing the notice. Due to which the court did not consider other points.
It was argued on behalf of Vijay that the Income Tax Department officials made a mistake in understanding that the time limit for imposing the penalty had already expired before issuing the show cause notice under Section 263 of the Act. Whereas the Income Tax Department opposed Vijay’s argument and said that the penalty was imposed legally. However, the court has given liberty to the South actor that he can challenge this order and the notice issued by the Income Tax Department before the Appellate Tribunal on grounds other than limitation.
What is the whole matter?
In September 2015, the Income Tax Department had conducted a search operation at the house of actor Vijay, after which this fine was imposed. After the assessment order was passed in December 2017, the process of penalty under section 271AAB (1) was started in December 2018. He had approached the High Court in 2022 against the fine order. Only last month, the court had reserved its decision on his petition. Which was narrated on Friday (February).
