In their continued effort to crack down on individuals evading road tax in Kerala, the crime branch of the Kerala police on Friday registered a criminal case against BJP MP and actor Suresh Gopi for forging documents to register his luxury car in Puducherry.
If convicted for the crime, Suresh Gopi will face immediate disqualification from the Rajya Sabha, as per an SC verdict in 2013.
The case has been registered under IPC sections 464 (forgery) and 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating).
Transport commissioner Anil Kant asked the crime branch to register the case. Gopi had allegedly evaded tax by registering his luxury vehicle in Puducherry after he became an MP on May 24, 2016, reports Deccan Chronicle.
The FIR was registered at Crime Branch headquarters after a team, led by IG S Sreejith, conducted a probe into the complaint that the MP forged documents to register his car in Puducherry to gain a monetary benefit of Rs 13.5 lakh in tax, reports TOI.
The actor had reportedly registered his luxury vehicle Audi Q7 under PY registration in Puducherry, by paying only Rs 1.5 lakh as road tax. Registering a luxury car in Kerala will cost the owner anywhere around Rs 14 lakh to Rs 20 lakh while the cost dwindles to just Rs 1.50 lakh in Pondicherry.
A report in Mathrubhumi says that the actor has also been charged for not paying fine for over speeding. The report also said that this is the first time in Kerala that a case for evading tax is being registered against a Rajya Sabha MP.
A probe by the Motor Vehicles Department found that the actor had never stayed at the address given for the registration. The Thiruvananthapuram RTO had issued a notice to him last month, seeking explanation on using a vehicle registered in Puducherry in the state.
In an earlier clamp down done by Kerala Motor Vehicle Department it was discovered that as many as 700 vehicles are registered at Puducherry, resulting in a revenue loss of over 60 cr to the state government. Since actor Amala Paul’s and Fahadh Faazil’s tax evasion stirred up controversy in the state, MVD is on a mission to explore every loophole in the system.