The Income Tax Department informed the Madras High Court that an investment of Rs $The Rs 7.36 lakh crore disclosed by Udhayanidhi Stalin in his affidavit for the 2021 elections was not mentioned in his affidavit for 2026, raising questions about the consistency in the financial disclosures made by the Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
In a ‘preliminary report’ filed before a bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, the I-T department said the missing disclosure related to investment in film production company Red Giant Movies.
She said that Stalin announced an “investment.” $7.36 crore in the film production company in 2021.” However, his 2026 affidavit “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 wife Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, she said.
The I-T Department said though there is a discrepancy in the affidavit, no firm conclusions can be drawn at this stage. On Tuesday, it requested additional time to conduct a detailed verification, citing the unavailability of key financial documents, including “audited statements” for some entities.
“It is submitted that the Income Tax Department has always endeavored to adhere to the strict guidelines given to us. It is also stated that the claims of the petitioner in the writ petition need to examine the relevant financial records which are not readily available now. In view of the above submission, the Hon’ble Supreme Court may grant reasonable time to the Income Tax Department to verify the matters for which the relevant financial data is not readily available. The Income Tax Department requires more time for detailed investigation and verification,” it said.
The ministry also pointed out that there were discrepancies in the disclosure of loans by Stalin. While the 2026 affidavit refers to loans $10 lakh crore, the 2021 affidavit recorded liabilities of approx $11.06 Crores. The company’s financial statements examined by management indicate loans of approx $17.69 Crores. The administration told the court that reconciliation would require access to full records.
It also said that the income tax returns filed by Stalin were in “ITR-2 format”, which does not mandate disclosure of balance sheets, limiting independent verification of investments and liabilities. The court also informed that Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi had not filed income tax returns for the assessment year 2025-26, making direct comparison of financial details difficult.
The report was submitted as per the earlier direction issued by the court on April 15 on a petition filed by R Kumaravel, a resident of Chennai, who is a voter from Chibok-Triplicane Assembly constituency. On the same day, the court also requested a response from Stalin. However, he has not yet submitted his response.
Senior advocate V Rajavachari, who appeared for the petitioner, told the court that a comparison between the affidavits of 2021 and 2026 revealed “serious discrepancies”. He claimed that previously declared assets “disappeared from the affidavit this year,” and pointed to “unexplained discrepancies in loans, and discrepancies between affidavit disclosures and corporate filings.”
The petitioner also claimed that Stalin did not disclose any transfer, sale or restructuring to explain the change in investment in Red Giant Movies. He also pointed out the discrepancies in the disclosure of the loans, noting that the loan was for a value $11.06 lakh crore was reported in 2021 to Chennai-based Snow Housing $10 lakh crore in 2026, without clarifying whether the balance has been repaid, written off or adjusted. He added that Snow Housing had not submitted its financial statements for three consecutive years after 2021-22.
In his 2026 affidavit, Stalin declared the value of the transferred assets $12.92 crores and the value of immovable assets $7.72 Crores. In 2021 announced the transferred assets $21.13 crore and immovable assets $6.54 Crores.
The Supreme Court registered the applications and gave the IT department four weeks to submit a detailed report.
