Actress Amala Paul has become the latest celebrity from Kerala to be listed among the infamous ‘VIP fraudsters’, who have been evading road tax worth several lakhs of rupees.
Amala’s luxurious Mercedes Benz S Class car, which is priced well over Rs 1 crore, has been found to be registered under a fake address in Puducherry, according to a Mathrubhumi News report, which claims that the actress has thus evaded tax to the tune of Rs 20 lakh.
This allegation did not go well with Amala and she lashed out at the Government instead. She was quoted by The News Minute saying, “I am in a state of shock the way an age-old daily publication, formed on nationalist principles by freedom fighters of the malabar region, is today digging such shallow ways to raise their circulations and garner public attention. I feel I have the right to speak against these unwanted speculations and harassment caused to me and my family, despite paying taxes of more than a crore this year alone. And especially now, even when the respective authorities have found no unlawful act on my part.
I am an Indian citizen and assumed that I have every right to work and own any asset throughout our nation free. But now this self-proclaimed socio-reformist newspaper, who has somewhere lost the meaning of its own name ‘MOTHERLAND’ and its own history, has resorted to playing the divisive regionalist propaganda, by making the innocent local readers believe that their state is separate from the nation at large.
I wish to know from these wise-men that I have worked in Tamil Cinema as much as I have worked in Malayalam cinema, so help me rationalize my assets in both the states by respective distributions of my paycheques. And should I have to ask their consent to work in Telugu Cinema or if I wish to own an asset in Bangalore? Last time I checked Bangalore’s currency is also the same i.e. Indian Rupees ‘INR’.
Have these wise men forgotten from where our country has come in the last seventy years, after countless efforts by many great men, finally there is a sense of unity in our diverse nation? Even when the government has succeeded in bringing the country under one unified tax regime, I humbly request them to stop dividing and isolating the sentiments of our people. I sincerely hope a day will come when our future generations, will not be Keralites, Tamilians or Punjabis or Gujaratis but be just Indians and working together for the growth of our great nation. Let’s fight the real fight, the fight against poverty, corruption, illiteracy, injustice and not resort to lynching law-abiding citizens for short-sighted gains.”
Amala bought her Benz from Trans Car dealers in Chennai on August 4. The car, which costs Rs 1.12 crore, was registered in Puducherry on August 9 under the address of St Theresa’s Street at Thilaspet.
The address belongs to an engineering student from Puducherry, who has reportedly revealed that he does not know the actress or that her car was registered in his address.”
Due to a huge difference in the tax structure between states and union territories, owners of several luxury vehicles in Kerala have been posing as Puducherry residents while registering their cars, in a bid to enjoy the lesser tax imposed in the UT.