Jayalalithaa will be prosecuted in income tax case, rules Supreme Court
NEW DELHI : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will stand trial in her home state for failing to file her income tax returns 20 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled today.
The top court ordered that the trial must be completed within four months. Income tax officials had filed criminal cases in 1996 and 1997 against the politician and her close aide N Sasikala after they did not file returns for the financial year 1993-94.
The chief minister had claimed that she had no taxable income for that year, and therefore there was no question of tax evasion, as alleged by some officials. However, the income tax department retaliated that it’s obligatory to file returns.