Madras HC Writ Against TVK Chief Vijay Over Alleged Cash Transactions in Puli Movie Income Tax Case; Plea Seeks FIR, ED Probe

A writ petition has been filed in the Madras High Court against Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president and actor C. Joseph Vijay over alleged undisclosed cash transactions linked to his 2015 movie Puli. The plea seeks registration of a First Information Report (FIR) and also an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

According to The Hindu, the petition was filed by Chennai resident M. Rajkumar. Though the case was filed in March 2026, the Madras High Court Registry had initially refused to number it. Later, a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari directed the Registry to number the case and leave the maintainability issue to be decided later by the judges.

The plea is based on earlier Income Tax proceedings initiated against Vijay after search and seizure operations conducted in September 2015. According to the Income Tax Department, producers of the movie Puli allegedly paid Vijay around Rs. 4.93 crore in cash apart from Rs. 16 crore paid through cheque.

The petition stated that TDS was deposited only for the cheque payment and not for the alleged cash transaction. During the tax proceedings, Vijay reportedly admitted receiving cash amount and later agreed to disclose additional income for the financial year 2015-16.

As per records, Vijay later filed income tax returns declaring total income of more than ₹35 crore, including the additional income disclosed after the search operations. However, the department disallowed certain claims and assessed his taxable income at Rs. 38.25 crore.

Following this, penalties were imposed under Sections 271(1)(c) and 271AAB(1) of the Income Tax Act. Vijay had challenged one of the penalties before the Madras High Court but the petition was dismissed earlier this year. A writ appeal filed against that order is still pending.

In the latest plea, the petitioner has requested the court to direct authorities to register an FIR against Vijay and also place the materials before the Enforcement Directorate to examine whether any money laundering offence was committed.

The writ petition is expected to be listed before the Madras High Court shortly for deciding maintainability of the case.

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