Writ petition in Madras HC seeks FIR against Vijay over alleged tax irregularities

CHENNAI: A writ petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) President C. Joseph Vijay in connection with alleged income tax irregularities linked to the 2015 Tamil film “Puli”. 

The petition, which was numbered by the High Court Registry on Wednesday, is expected to be listed shortly under the caption “For Maintainability.”  Though the plea had originally been filed last month, the Registry had initially declined to number the case.  However, the division bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, on April 8, directed the Registry to number the petition subject to maintainability.  The plea is based on income tax proceedings initiated after the release of “Puli” in 2015. According to documents referred to in the petition, the Income Tax Department had carried out search and seizure operations at premises linked to Vijay on September 30, 2015, during which certain materials were allegedly recovered indicating unaccounted cash transactions. The records reportedly suggested that producers P.T. Selvakumar and Shibu of SKT Studios had paid Vijay Rs 4.93 crore in cash in addition to Rs 16 crore paid through cheques as remuneration for the film.

During the course of the tax proceedings, Vijay was reportedly questioned by Income Tax officials regarding the transactions. According to the petition, he admitted to receiving nearly Rs 5 crore in cash connected to the film and agreed to pay taxes on the amount.  (IANS)

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