Interim stay on I-T dept from issuing final order in Benami Act case against DMK MP Kathir Anand

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court imposed an interim stay on the Income Tax Department from issuing final order in the case against DMK Lok Sabha member Kathir Anand under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, but allowed it to continue the adjudication proceedings.

A vacation bench of Justice GR Swaminathan directed Kathir Anand to participate in the adjudication proceedings and file his reply without fail, while hearing the petition moved by the MP seeking a direction to stay the adjudication proceedings and stay the provisional attachment order.

The counsel representing Kathir Anand submitted that his client had no connection to the cash that I-T officials seized, and sought a direction to grant him liberty from participating in the adjudication proceedings.

The case dates back to 2019, during the Parliamentary election, when I-T officials raided several places in Vellore and seized Rs 11.48 crore from the premises belonging to Damodaran and Vimala.

The cash was packed in plastic bags with labels containing details of wards in Vellore Parliamentary constituency, and the number of voters in each ward.

Kathir Anand, senior DMK leader Duraimurugan's son, was the party candidate from the constituency.

Take note of the documents related to Duraimurugan Educational Trust, which runs Kingston College of Engineering, that were seized along with the cash, the I-T officials concluded that the money belongs to Kathir Anand.

In 2023, the department attached the cash under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988.

However, Kathir Anand moved the High Court stating that the cash attachment was illegal and arbitrary, and sought to quash the order.