The Madras High Court has dismissed all writ appeals preferred by the alleged ‘benamidars’ of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam former interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala against the refusal of a single judge to interfere with an inquiry initiated by the Income Tax department into a group case of her having used ₹1,674.50 crore in demonetised currency notes to buy several malls and mills across the State in November 2016.
Justices R. Mahadevan and J. Sathya Narayana Prasad dismissed the appeals and held that the appellants had not made out any case for interfering with the orders passed by Justice Anita Sumanth on October 25, 2021. The Division Bench held that the I-T department need not provide an opportunity to the appellants to cross examine the witnesses at the preliminary stage under Section 24 of Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act of 1988.
The question of violation of principles of natural justice would not arise at all in the absence of any provision of law or compelling circumstances warranting the department to permit cross examination, the Bench said. It also recorded the submission of M. Sheela, Special Public Prosecutor (Income Tax), that the question of providing an opportunity to cross examine the witnesses would arise only during the adjudication proceedings.
