The judge of the special court for cases related to elected MPs and MLAs in Chennai on Thursday viewed certain files in a hard disk purportedly containing evidence against Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram and his wife Srinidhi in a land deal case. The disk was seized by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax officials on December 1, 2015 during a search on the premises of Advantage and Chess Global and other places with which Mr. Karti was associated.
On December 19 last year, the ED and IT department had handed over to the court printout of the documents supposedly stored in the disk. These documents allegedly contained details of payment made to the accused persons by cheque and cash.
With the help of S. Saravanan, an expert from a private company - Indian Office Automation and Technologies Private Limited - the folders in the hard disk were opened in the presence of counsels of both sides.
Officials had earlier alleged that Mr. Karti had received ₹6.38 crore in cash while his wife received ₹1.35 crore in cash during that financial year. The transaction has come to light when IT sleuths had conducted inquiries with employees of Agni Estates Foundation, the firm which purchased the land near Muttukadu belonging to the Chidambarams, according to sources. The case has posted for further hearing on Tuesday next.
