In a major relief to the Indian National Congress, the Income Tax Department has informed the Supreme Court that it will refrain from taking coercive action against the party until July 24, 2024. This decision comes amidst tax demands amounting to nearly Rs 3,500 crore imposed on the Congress party.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the Supreme Court on Monday that the Income Tax department would abstain from any coercive steps to recover the mentioned sum until after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The assurance aims to avoid potential disruptions or controversies involving political parties during the electoral process.
The Congress party recently received fresh notices from the Income Tax department demanding payment of Rs 1,823 crore for the assessment years 1994-95 to 2020-21. Additionally, notices were issued for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17, with demands totalling Rs 1,745 crore.
The series of notices traces back to the Income Tax department’s raids preceding the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, during which it claimed to have uncovered “unaccounted transactions” amounting to Rs 523.87 crore. This and the recent notices escalated the total demand to Rs 3,567 crore.
These fresh notices came on Friday shortly after the party criticized the BJP-led Central government, accusing it of employing “tax terrorism” to “financially cripple” the congress ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
On March 22, the party lost a challenge to the search operations conducted by the I-T department in the Delhi High Court. The party had argued that these were “time-barred” and a “delayed action.”
The Congress party also lost its appeal before the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), where it sought a stay on withdrawing Rs 135 crore from its bank accounts.
Also read: Delhi Minister Gahlot Says ‘Unaware Of AAP’s Goa Campaign’
In response to the pressure from the Income Tax department, the Congress party has announced plans for a nationwide protest against what it deems as unjustified tax notices. In an official statement, the party condemned the reopening of its Income Tax returns over what it described as “baseless, manufactured grounds” aimed at imposing “patently illegal” tax demands.
Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha, who handles the party’s tax litigation, raised concerns over the electoral process’s fairness, citing discrepancies in the treatment of evidence.
Tankha pointed out the disparity in the treatment of evidence in the Sahara case, where the Supreme Court had rejected the admissibility of third-party Excel sheets or entries recovered in the course of a search of high BJP functionaries, including a former Chief Minister of Gujarat and a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, amongst many others, as invalid evidence.
Tankha characterized the situation as a “travesty of justice” and an abuse of authority by the revenue department, particularly in light of the impending elections.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
