Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy ruled that the penalty order had been issued within the prescribed time limit and found no grounds to interfere with the department’s decision, as per news agency PTI.
The judge said the order imposing the penalty was valid and therefore did not warrant judicial intervention. The petition was consequently dismissed.
Court allows option to appeal
During the hearing, Vijay’s counsel sought liberty to challenge the penalty through other legal avenues.
The judge clarified it was open to the petitioner to contest the order before the appropriate appellate authority. The court had reserved its verdict on January 23 after hearing arguments from both sides, as per PTI.
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The High Court’s decision effectively lifted an earlier interim stay granted on August 16, 2022, when a single judge had temporarily halted the operation of the penalty order after admitting Vijay’s petition, as per News18.
Dispute over alleged undisclosed income
The case stems from a 2015 search conducted by the Income Tax Department at Vijay’s residence.
Tax authorities claimed that documents seized during the raid indicated Vijay had failed to disclose ₹15 crore earned from the Tamil film “Puli”.
Based on these findings, the department issued an order dated June 30, 2022, imposing a ₹1.5 crore penalty. Vijay argued that he had declared an income of ₹35.42 crore for the financial year 2016-17 and contended that the penalty order should have been issued before June 30, 2019. He maintained that the delay rendered the action invalid, as per News18.
However, the Income Tax Department defended its action, stating that the penalty was imposed in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act.
After reviewing submissions from both sides, the court sided with the department and dismissed Vijay’s challenge, allowing the penalty order to stand, as per News18.
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