New Delhi, Aug 31: Former Union Minister P Chidambaram and his family - wife Nalini, son Karti and daughter in-law Srinidhi - have been granted exemption by the Madras High Court from appearing before a Special Court hearing the black money case against them till September 14.

Chidambaram, Nalini and Karti have been charged by the Income Tax department of co-owning a property in Cambridge, UK worth Rs 5.37 crore but not disclosing the same before the Indian authorities in a bid to evade tax. This amounts to an offence under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, passed in 2014.

Apart from the non-disclosure of UK property, the I-T department has charged of Karti of not revealing the details of his overseas bank account in the Metro Bank of UK, along with the investments he had made in the Washington-based Nano Holdings LLC.

Karti has also been charged of not disclosing the investments made Chess Global Advisory, a firm which lists him as a co-owner. The charges amount to offences under the Black Money Act.

The Chidambarams have refuted the allegations levelled against them, accusing the agencies of deliberately targeting them on the behest of the central government.

"My family is paying the price for my staunch opposition to Narendra Modi. But we will not be deterred. We are hopeful to win all legal battles," Chidambaram had said.

Apart from the black money case, Chidambaram and Karti are also facing prosecution in the Aircel-Maxis scam and the INX media case.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2018 07:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).