The Madras High Court warned actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth on Wednesday (14 October), for rushing to the judiciary against a tax demand for a marriage hall located in Chennai. The judge said the actor had wasted the court's time and his counsel has now agreed to withdraw the petition. The actor went to court after the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) made a tax demand of Rs.6.50 lakh as property tax for his Sri Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam which is located in Kodambakkam.
Rajinikanth however, in his plea, told the court that the marriage hall has been vacant since March 24, 2020 because a lockdown had been announced to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
He argued that no revenue had been earned during this period and despite this, he got a property tax invoice from the Corporation on September 10, for the months of April through September.
He pointed out in his writ petition that he had cancelled all bookings for his marriage hall after March 24 and even refunded the advance money in accordance with the state government's guidelines. He argued that he was thus entitled to remission on property tax.
The petition quoted the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act of 1919 that allows for a remission of tax if the premises remained vacant for over 30 days. Despite this, he stated that he received a notice for the property tax to be submitted by the Chennai corporation. The case came before Justice Anitha Sumanth on Wednesday. The judge however chided the actor's counsel for rushing to the court within 10 days of receiving the notice and warned that they could be fined for this.
Rajinikanth's counsel then agreed to withdraw the case. The court said that a separate petition has to be filed asking for the case to be withdrawn.
(The article was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission)
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