Prithviraj Sukumaran served with Income Tax Department notice amid L2 Empuraan controversy

Actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran has been issued a notice from the Income Tax Department after the recent Enforcement Directorate raids on the office of L2 Empuraan producer Gokulam Gopalan. A TNIE report states that the notice seeks clarification on his earnings from three 2022 films he acted in and co-produced. (Also Read: L2 Empuraan controversy reaches Parliament; Suresh Gopi says team was ‘never pressured’ to make 24 cuts)

IT Department issues notice to Prithviraj Sukumaran

IT officials said the notice was system-generated and sent to Prithviraj via email on March 29. The notice is automatically triggered when discrepancies or queries are identified during routine income tax assessments. The actor-director has been asked to provide an explanation by April 29.

The IT Department is investigating three films Prithviraj acted in and co-produced in 2022: Jana Gana Mana, Gold, and Kadavu. Despite playing lead roles, he reportedly did not claim any remuneration for acting and received payments only as a co-producer. The IT Department is now seeking clarification on his income structure as part of the standard verification procedure.

A follow-up to the 2022 investigation by IT

In 2022, the IT Department searched Prithviraj’s home and office over discrepancies in his tax filings. The search extended to his production company and other associated entities. Producers Antony Perumbavoor, Listin Stephen, and Anto Joseph faced similar probes back then. The Hindu reported that the department served the notice as a follow-up action to that. It is reported that it has nothing to do with the L2 Empuraan controversy.

This development comes at a time when Prithviraj is in the spotlight for his latest film, L2 Empuraan, which stars Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, and Abhimanyu Singh. The film faced flak for some scenes depicting the 2002 Gujarat riots when exploring Prithviraj’s character, Zayed Masood’s life story. The makers made voluntary cuts, removing some references, apart from changing a name and tweaking dialogues.