The Income Tax (I-T) department has informed the Madras High Court that a suo motu verification of all election affidavits filed by candidates will commence once the election results are announced, following the standard operating procedure (SOP).
Verification Timeline and Process
Senior standing counsel for the department, A P Srinivas, stated in a counter affidavit that the investigation directorate is allowed 150 days from the date of initiation to complete the entire verification process. This response was filed on a plea seeking an income tax probe into alleged discrepancies in assets declared by Udhayanidhi Stalin in his affidavit for the 2026 Assembly election.
Challenges in Comparison
The department explained that the income tax returns (ITRs) filed by candidates for respective financial years do not capture or reflect investments and loans as on the exact date of filing of the affidavits. Due to this temporal incongruity between the affidavit dates and the ITRs, a direct and conclusive comparison cannot be undertaken at this juncture without a detailed verification.
Furthermore, upon verification of the ITRs filed by Udhayanidhi for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25, it was observed that the returns have been filed in ITR-2 form, which does not contain a balance sheet. In the absence of such financial disclosures, it is not possible at this stage to ascertain the quantum of any investment as on the date of filing of the election affidavit for 2026.
Request for Time
Therefore, the I-T department has asked the court to provide reasonable time to verify the issues for which relevant financials are not readily available. The department emphasized that a thorough verification is necessary to ensure accuracy and transparency in the process.
