Wednesday, August 31 2005 11:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: In the eye of a controversy over her appearance RPT appearance in a case on behalf of the Income Tax Department, Nalini Chidambaram, renowned lawyer and wife of Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, has returned to the department the fee of Rs one lakh she had received for her appearance.

Sources said that Nalini had returned the fee to the department four or five day's back.

On August 26 last, Nalini had issued a statement in Chennai that her husband had no knowledge of her taking up a Income tax department case recently. She took up the case only after Senior Standing Counsel of the department, Pushya Sitaraman, persuaded her to accept the case.

Since her husband became Finance Minister in 1996, she had voluntarily refrained from appearing for or against the IT department, she had said adding that 'this is the sole case in which the department had engaged me'.