GSTI denies reports of raids at premises of Pro-Mersal actor Vishal

The Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) on Monday denied the reports that it raided the top Tamil actor Vishal who demanded an apology from BJP leader H Raja for allegedly watching a pirated version of Vijay-starer "Mersal".

"It is to clarify that the officers of DGGSTI have not conducted any such search operations and the news which isbeing circulated is factually incorrect and false," Joint Director of DGGSTI P V K Rajasekhar said in a press release in Chennai.

A section of Tamil media on Monday reported that Goods and Services Tax's Intelligence Agency GSTI conducted raids at the office of Vishal Film Factory, a production house owned by the actor.

Vishal who is also the President of Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council has accused BJP leader H Raja of advocating piracy by watching Vijay-starrer “Mersal” online.

“Dear Mr H Raja, as a leader and prominent personality, you are advocating piracy and blatantly agreeing to it,” Vishal said in a statement.

However, Raja has denied the allegations and said he had only watched the clips of the movie received on his phone.

Also Read | 'Mersal' row: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi, says don't try to 'demon-etize' Tamil pride

Piracy is one of the major issues being faced by the multi-crore Tamil cinema industry, with films being uploaded on certain websites soon after their release.

The "Mersal" controversy:

Diwali release “Mersal” has kicked up a row with the BJP taking exception to references on GST in the movie.

BJP leaders, including Raja, a national secretary in the party, state president Tamilisai Soundarajan and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, have been demanding that the “incorrect” references be deleted from the big-budget flick.

However, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, his senior colleague P Chidambaram, DMK working president M K Stalin, veteran star Kamal Haasan and a host of Tamil cinema industry representatives had supported the film crew on the issue.

The BJP had on October 20 objected to what it termed as “untruths” regarding the GST in just-released “Mersal”, and wanted dialogues on the central taxation to be deleted.

(With PTI Inputs)