Court refuses to discharge Karti, wife from tax case

Justice M Sundar, before whom the plea came, dismissed the petitions after setting aside the petitioners’ contention that the prosecution has been launched solely based on the statements made by third parties. “The issues that arise in the said criminal complaints are matters for trial and no ground has been made out for quashing the same,” the judge said

As per the case, in March 2015 Karthi Chidambaram and his wife sold their 1.16-acre property at Muttukadu to Agni Estates and Foundations Private Limited. Thereafter, following a joint search conducted by the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate on December 1, 2015, in connection with the case of Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, the Income Tax Department charged the couple with not disclosing cash receipts of Rs 6.38 crore they received in the sale.

The couple claimed that the statutory time limit for the I-T Department to pass a reassessment order for the year 2014-15 had expired on December 31, 2019. Thus, in the absence of the reassessment order, the allegation that the original return filed on July 29, 2014 is a false return, is not correct and hence no offence is attracted.

Also, the couple had challenged the transfer of case from the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court to the special court hearing cases against MPs and MLAs after Karti Chidambaram became an MP in May 2019, the High Court Registry transferred the case to the special court for legislators. Karti claimed that the transaction was completed and returns of income were filed in 2015 when he was not a Member of Parliament.

However, Justice M Sundar dismissed the pleas in this regard after holding that there is no difference in standing trial in a Magistrate Court and standing trial in a sessions court.

In a parting observation while dismissing the pleas, Justice M Sundar also sought the Tamil Nadu Government and Registrar, Madras High Court, to designate one or more Metropolitan Magistrate/s in Chennai for trying criminal cases related to elected MPs/MLAs, in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court.