The Kerala High Court on Friday directed actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi to appear before the Crime Branch on December 21 in connection to the case filed against him for allegedly forging the documents related to registering his luxury car in Puducherry.
In his anticipatory bail petition, Suresh said all the allegations filed against him were prime facie false.
The Crime Branch had registered a criminal case against him for forging the documents related to registering his luxury car in Puducherry in the view of evading tax in Kerala. If he is found guilty of this, Suresh will face immediate disqualification from the Rajya Sabha, as per an SC verdict in 2013.
The actor had reportedly registered his Audi Q7 under 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.
A report also said that the actor has been charged for not paying a fine in connection with a speeding case. The report added that this is the first time Kerala is seeing a case registered against a Rajya Sabha MP for evading tax.
A probe by the Motor Vehicles Department found that the actor-MP had never stayed at the address given in the registration papers. The Thiruvananthapuram RTO had issued a notice to him last month, seeking explanation for using a vehicle registered in Puducherry.
In an earlier clampdown done by the Kerala Motor Vehicle Department (MVD), it was discovered that as many as 700 vehicles are registered in Puducherry, resulting in a revenue loss of over Rs 60 cr to the state exchequer. Since actor Amala Paul’s and Fahadh Faasil’s tax evasion stoked controversy in the state, MVD is on a mission to explore every loophole in the system.