HC quashes criminal prosecution against PC's family

Madras High Court on Friday quashed criminal prosecution against P Chidambaram's family in a black money case, holding that no offence was made out against them.

This is a major relief for Chidambaram and his son Karti who have been fighting charges against them by the CBI in INX Media case. Besides Karti, Chidambaram’s wife Nalini and daughter-in-law Sreenidhi were accused of not disclosing of their overseas assets and bank accounts.

When their petitions came up before a division bench of justices S Manikumar and Subramania Prasad, the judges quashed the charges saying no case was made out.

The Income Tax department had alleged that the trio had not disclosed a property they jointly owned in Cambridge in the UK worth Rs 5.37 crore in their returns which amounted to an offence under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act and Imposition of Tax Act.

On October 12, the high court had extended its interim order dispensing with their appearance before a special court here till Friday. Though the case was heard by the then Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, it was referred to the bench headed by Justice Manikumar for fresh hearing, after she was elevated to the Supreme Court.