Days after facing a legal setback from the special bench of the Madras High Court over clearing the entry tax for his luxurious Rolls Royce car, actor Vijay has begun his legal battle as his petition of appeal against the judgment passed by the special bench was accepted by the High Court for hearing. In his petition, Vijay has sought the directive from the High Court to repeal the fine imposed on him by the special bench and to remove objectionable comments against him by the special bench's judge Justice Subramanian. 

Last week, the special bench of the Madras High Court has directed Vijay to pay Rs 1 lakh fine for not paying the entry tax for his Rolls Royce car. Vijay has imported the Rolly Royce car from England in 2012.  It is one of the most luxurious cars in the world and he imported the car that is nearly worth Rs 5 crore in 2012 and as per the Indian rules, an imported vehicle can be declared legitimate and can enter the country after paying the import tax and entry tax should also be paid in the respective state of the importer to register the vehicle. 

However, Vijay challenged the entry tax in the Madras High Court by quoting the verdict of the Kerala High Court which said that the entry tax can be exempted if the import tax is paid. Vijay has paid the import tax of over 1.50 crore and he had approached the Madras High Court in 2012 with a petition challenging the order to pay the entry tax. According to reports, the court has on July 17, 2012, ordered Vijay to pay 20% of the total entry tax in its interim judgment. As per the order, the actor had paid 20% of the tax on July 23, 2012, and registered his Rolls Royce.

 After paying the initial tax, he has been using the vehicle, and nearly after nine years, the high court has last week pronounced its final judgment in the petition that was moved by Vijay seeking full relief from the entry tax. In his plea, Vijay had argued that extraordinary entry tax has been imposed on his vehicle. The special bench headed by Justice has said that the petitioner (Vijay) has imported a prestigious car from England but he didn't pay entry tax as per the provision of the act. 

The high court has noted that the petitioner is a reputed actor and he has to pay the tax promptly. By dismissing his petition, the court has ordered Vijay to pay Rs 1 lakh fine and he has to pay the penalty to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund as a donation. Levying the fine, which is seen as a setback for Vijay, the court has highlighted that the actors who have a huge fan base are considered real heroes. The special bench has come down hard on Vijay through its judgment and 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."

After bracing up the legal setback, Vijay has decided to challenge the judgment of the special bench. It was reported that Vijay is ready to pay the outstanding entry tax and he was planning to seek a directive to repeal the penalty and to remove objectionable comments. Earlier, Vijay's counsel said, "We have decided to appeal and challenge the court order as it has some objectionable comments." Last Friday, Vijay has moved his petition to challenge the order and sought a directive from the high court to repeal the penalty of Rs 1 lakh and the objectionable comments. 

While it was said that Vijay's petition would be taken up for hearing on Monday, his petition has come to the hearing on Thursday. His petition was heard by the High Court bench comprising of Justices Duraisamy and Hemalatha during which Vijay's counsel has requested the court to accept the petition without the written judgment copy of the special bench. By accepting the counsel's request, the bench has ordered the high court's registry to schedule Vijay's petition without the judgment copy for hearing. According to our sources, as Vijay has begun his legal battle, his petition to challenge the court's order is expected to come to hearing early next week.