The Income Tax department on Monday (April 20, 2026) informed the Madras High Court of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) having been issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes for verification of the assets declared by candidates contesting in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections.
Appearing before Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan, assisted by I-T department senior standing counsel, said, the SOP requires the department to verify the election affidavits after the declaration of the results.
However, in a case alleging material discrepancies in the affidavits filed by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin in the 2021 elections and the elections happening this year, since the court had called for the response of the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), the department took a look into the records, he said.
There was a “temporal incongruity” between the dates that Mr. Udhayanadhi had declared his assets in the election affidavits and the financial reporting periods related to his income tax returns (ITR) and therefore, the department required some more time for a detailed inquiry and verification of records, he said.
Though the writ petitioner R. Kumaravel, a resident of Chepauk constituency, had raised questions regarding Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin’s investments in Red Giant Movies, those details could not be ascertained immediately because they require cross verification with balance sheets which were not filed with ITR-2 forms.
Stating that the matter requires a detailed examination and verification of relevant records, the ASG requested the court to grant a reasonable time to verify issues for which relevant financials were not readily available. Accepting his request, the judges adjourned the hearing on the writ petition to June 17, 2026.
Other cases
Similarly, while dealing with a writ petition filed regarding alleged discrepancies in the assets disclosed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay, the judges ordered notices, returnable by June 3, to the DGIT (Investigation) and Mr. Vijay. A similar order was passed in another case filed against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) former State president Tamilisai Soundararajan too.
The cases filed against TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna, AIADMK Tiruvallur constituency candidate B.V. Ramana, and Madurai Central constituency candidate Sundar C., were dismissed by the court.
