Srinidhi Karti Chidambaram Vs Deputy Director of Income Tax (Investigation) (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court, by a common order dated 12 May 2020, decided four Criminal Original Petitions together concerning two income-tax prosecution complaints and the transfer of those complaints from the Economic Offences Court to the Special Court for trial of criminal cases relating to MPs/MLAs in Tamil Nadu. The petitions sought quashing of the criminal complaints as well as a declaration that the transfer of the cases to the Special Court was without jurisdiction.
The Court noted that the central issue across all four petitions was the challenge to the transfer of Economic Offences Case Nos. 266 and 267 of 2018, which were originally pending before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offences-II), Egmore, Chennai, and were subsequently transferred to the Special Court for trial of criminal cases relating to elected MPs/MLAs, where they were renumbered as C.C. Nos. 15 and 16 of 2019. The petitions also sought quashing of the underlying criminal complaints.
The criminal complaints had been filed by the Deputy Director of Income Tax (Investigation) under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The first complaint alleged offences under Sections 276C(1) and 277 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, while the second complaint alleged offences under Sections 276C(1) and 277 read with Section 278. The first complaint involved one accused, whereas the second complaint included another accused along with his spouse. The complaints related to Assessment Years 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively.
