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Swamy's plea against Chidambaram put off till Tuesday

The Delhi high court on Monday adjourned till Tuesday the hearing on Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy's petition seeking prosecution of Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram for allegedly not disclosing in his tax returns ''the true value'' of the shares of the Fairgrowth Financial Services Ltd.

Justice Anil Dev Singh, before fixing the case for Tuesday, said the arguments would be heard by another judge.

Justice Singh had adjourned the matter on July 9 for Monday as he wanted more time to study the case since it was being handled by a different judge before the vacation.

Swamy had, in his petition, alleged that not only had Chidambaram bought promoters's shares at face value (Rs 10 per share) in 1991, he also did not file his wealth tax returns for 1991-92 on time.

He alleged that Chidambaram, who had bought 10,000 FFSL shares out of the promoters' quota at par, thus augmented his wealth by Rs 546,000 if he had used the balance sheet of 1991-92 which was available only on December 1, 1993, or alternatively by Rs 1,903,000 if he had filed his wealth tax returns on time.

The high court had on May 16 directed Dr Swamy to file an affidavit detailing how the gains to Chidambaram would be computed by the acquisition of the shares which are not even listed on the stock exchange.

Swamy alleged that in either case, it was amply proved that the promoter's shares were purchased by Chidambaram for inadequate consideration.

UNI