Kochi: Finance minister Thomas Isaac on Friday announced a one-time ‘amnesty scheme’ for vehicle owners who have registered their vehicles in Puducherry to evade tax, but continue to ply them in the state. Such owners can escape further criminal proceedings by paying the amount mandated for registration in the state. The scheme will be valid only till April 30 and the government will take strict action, including seizure of the vehicles, thereafter. According to the police and the motor vehicles department officials, nearly 1,500 premium car owners and 2,000 others had registered their vehicles in Puducherry using ‘fake addresses.’
High-end cars costing over Rs 20 lakh attract tax of 20 per cent and those priced between Rs 15 and Rs 20 lakh 15 per cent in the state. The tax on luxury cars in Puducherry is around 13.75 per cent only. “The government expects to receive Rs 100 crore additional revenue through the scheme. Many were not aware of the legal consequences while making registration in Puducherry and are not coming forward fearing criminal proceedings. We expect such people to make use of the scheme,” the minister said during his Budget presentation.
Legal experts warned the scheme might not work in the case of those who are already facing legal action for registering vehicles using ‘fake documents.’ “Using fake documents for registering vehicles amounts to criminal forgery and is an illegal act before the court of law. The scheme then works to legalise the illegality and is against public policy. In such cases, the criminal proceedings cannot be revoked even if the owner agrees to cough up the penalty,” said a Kochi-based senior lawyer. However, a senior MVD officer said the department had already submitted a written proposal suggesting to drop further legal action against vehicle owners to encourage them to cough up the tax due to the state exchequer.
“The main intention of such owners is to evade tax and now they are ready to pay the same. Hence, we’ll also recommend to the court to drop any criminal proceedings against them. Also, in the majority of cases, it’s the brokers who signed the fake documents and hence the owners are not directly responsible for using fake documents for registration,” said Mr K.M. Shaji, Ernakulam Regional Transport Officer (Enforcement). Many have expressed their willingness to pay the fine and escape the legal proceedings. As many as 33 persons have so far remitted the tax in the zone covering Ernakulam, Kottayam and Idukki, the officer said.
