HC closes DA case filed against Sasikala and Ilavarasi

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday closed a disproportionate asset case filed against expelled AIADMK leader and former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's confidant VK Sasikala and her kin Ilavarasi Jayaraman for not declaring their income for the financial year 1996-1997.

A division bench comprising Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq passed the orders after recording the submissions of the Income Tax department.

The IT's counsel informed the court that the Tax Department is giving up the case citing the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) order to renounce cases wherein the tax effect is less than Rs 1 crore.

The case dates back to 1996 when the I-T department issued a notice to Sasikala and Ilavarasi for not declaring their income for 1996-1997. Sasikala's authorized person had responded to the notice before I-T officials. Based on the reply, the known income of Sasikala and Ilavarasi for 1996-1997 was Rs.4.97 crore. The I-T department demanded a wealth tax of Rs.10.13 lakh.

Therefore, Sasikala appealed before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and got a direction to I-T to re-assess the tax by considering her credit to the tune of Rs 40 lakh.

Aggrieved with the award of the ITAT, the principal commissioner of the department, Chennai, challenged the same before the HC in 2018. The officer sought direction from the court directing Sasikala and Ilavarasi to pay the tax as assessed by the tax department.