Chennai: Madras high court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking a probe by income tax (I-T) department into alleged concealment of details such as investments and bank accounts in the election affidavit of former AIADMK minister S P Velumani.Refusing to entertain the plea, first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan dismissed the petition by Vigneshwaran, a Coimbatore-based voter.According to the petitioner, the disclosures made by Velumani in his nomination affidavit for the 2026 election reveal substantial financial dealings and prima facie indicate non-disclosure of material particulars, including the business interests of his spouse, thereby raising serious concerns regarding compliance with the mandatory disclosure requirements under election law. “In his affidavit filed in 2021, Velumani disclosed bank balances and deposits only in modest amounts, ranging from a few thousand rupees to a few lakhs, including balances of 5,000, 9,923, 37,000, 6,23,910 and similar figures,” he said.However, in his 2026 affidavit, Velumani disclosed multiple high-value deposits and bank balances aggregating several crores, including inter alia deposits with Federal Bank exceeding 1.85 crore, fixed deposits of around 1.17 crore, deposits of 1.95 crore, 1.71 crore, and 2.17 crore, along with several additional deposits across Indian Bank, State Bank of India and other financial institutions, the petitioner said.“The disclosures reflect a dramatic and unexplained escalation from modest holdings in lakhs to multiple crores within a short span of time, without any disclosure of the source of funds, mode of accumulation, or intervening financial transactions,” he alleged.
