Anita Sumanth, a judge of the Madras High Court has agreed to step aside from hearing a case involving Karti Chidambaram, MP who is the son of Congress strongman P Chidambaram. The decision of Justice Anita Sumanth, who was one of the leading lawyers in tax related issues before her elevation  to the Madras High Court comes in response to a request made by the lawyer representing the Income Tax Department in the case.

The Income Tax Department had filed a petition in the Madras High Court against Karti Chidambaram, his wife Srinidhi and mother Nalini Chidambaram for non-disclosure of Rs  1.35 crore which  he had received as payment for selling a plot of land at the scenic Muttukadu near Chennai.

The case was filed based on documentary evidences seized from the residence of Karti and office Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd in which it is alleged that he has stakes.

The advocate appearing for the Income Tax department told Justice Sumanth that she had represented Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd as a lawyer before her elevation to the Bench. He also asked the judge to transfer the case to the bench of another judge.

Anita Sumanth immediately agreed to ask the chief justice to allocate the case to another bench.Interestingly, Dr Sumant Raman, spouse of Anita is one of the most sought after panellists in discussions in TV channels and he is known for his support to the Chidambarams.

Last Tuesday, a special court in Chennai had dismissed the petition filed by Karti asking for quashing of the tax evasion case against him since he had filed all relevant tax returns and he was not a member of the Lok Sabha at the time. The Special Court is the one which hears cases related top MLAs, MPs and other public servants.

The court had also asked the Income Tax Department to frame charges against Karti and his wife and had also asked them to be present in the court on January 21.

The Deputy Director of Income Tax (Investigation) Chennai had filed a complaint against the duo in September 2018  before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court (Economic Offences)  under sections 276(c)1 and 277 of the Income Tax Act. The case was later transferred to the special court for trail of MLAs and MPs. During the hearing, the Income Tax Department told the court that Karti received Rs 6.38 crore in cash while his wife received Rs 1.35 core in cash for the same of the land. It was also alleged that Nalini Chidambaram (Karti’s mother) received the payment in the form of cheque while the son and his wife received cash.