The Madras High Court today granted interim stay on petitions filed by former Union minister P Chidambaram and his family seeking to quash of a notice issued under the Income Tax Act for reopening of the assessment for the year 2010-11.

Chidambaram, his wife Nalini, son Karti and daughter-in-law Srinidhi had filed four pleas for quashing of the notice from the IT department

Justice T S Sivagnanam granted interim stay on all the four petitions challenging the notice issued by the assistant commissioner of Income Tax-Chennai.

The court had on November 14 quashed an order of the Income Tax department seeking payment of tax by the former Union minister and his family on income from a coffee estate owned by them for the 2008-09 financial year after re-assessing it.