Madras High Court issues notice on plea over Udhayanidhi Stalin assets

The court issued notices on a writ petition filed by one R Kumaravel, a voter from Chennai’s Chepauk–Triplicane Assembly constituency

The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Income Tax (IT) department and the Union government over a petition alleging irregularities in the assets declared and financial disclosures made by Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister (CM) Udhayanidhi Stalin in his affidavit for the 2026 State Assembly elections.

Udhayanidhi declared an investment of ₹7.36 crore in the film production company. (PTI)

A bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan directed the director general of IT (Investigation) and the Union ministry of corporate affairs to file their replies to the plea by April 20 this year.

The court issued notices on a writ petition filed by one R Kumaravel, a voter from Chennai’s Chepauk–Triplicane Assembly constituency.

Kumaravel’s counsel, senior advocate V Raghavachari told the court that a comparison of the deputy CM’s election affidavits from 2021 and 2026 revealed “serious discrepancies.” He alleged that several previously declared assets had “disappeared from the affidavit this year”.

Udhayanidhi’s affidavit filed this year also contained “unexplained variation in loans, and contradictions between affidavit disclosures and corporate filings,” the petitioner said.

According to the petition, Udhayanidhi declared an investment of ₹7.36 crore in the film production company, Red Giant Movies, in 2021. His 2026 affidavit however, does not reflect this investment.

Instead, the latest affidavit records an investment of ₹2.63 crore in the same company in the name of his spouse, the plea claims.

The petitioner also claimed that Udhayanidhi had not disclosed any transfer, sale, or restructuring to explain this change.

He also pointed out alleged inconsistencies in loan disclosures and said that in the year 2021, Udhayanidhi had reported a loan of ₹11.06 crore to a Chennai based private firm, Snow Housing. His 2026 affidavit shows the loan amount as ₹10 crore.

The petitioner said the affidavit does not explain whether the remaining ₹1.06 crore was repaid, written off, or adjusted.

Kumaravel said that Snow Housing had not filed financial statements for three consecutive years after 2021–22.

The plea raised similar concerns over disclosures related to other private firms.

Kumaravel also questioned the sharp rise in Udhayanidhi’s income. He said that the deputy CM had a total income of about ₹2.02 crore in the five years prior to 2020, which rose to over ₹10.98 crore in subsequent years. The petitioner argued that this increase did not “correlate with declared assets.”

He argued that inaccurate disclosures violate the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and undermine voters’ right to information. Kumaravel sought a direction from the court for a comprehensive inquiry and urged the court to call for a preliminary report before the state goes to polls on April 23 this year.