No action against Congress on tax demands till July: Govt assures SC
₹3,500 crore until July due to the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Representing the Union government and the IT department, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta made this undertaking before a bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih.
The Congress party in the case moved an interim application against the recent demand notices issued by the IT department. Mehta said that the current appeals are not directly related to the recent tax notices sent to the Congress party. Nevertheless, considering the approaching elections, the department would postpone any coercive actions, he assured the court.
The bench also observed that the demand for around ₹3,500 crore is not directly relevant to the matters discussed in the current appeals. They noted that these demands touched upon other issues related to the appellant. Last Saturday, the Congress party received notices from the income tax department for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17, with demands totalling ₹1,745 crore.
The party also got notices for assessment years 1994-95 and 2017-18 to 2020-21, with the total demand amounting to ₹3,567 crore. The Congress has received various tax notices from the IT department before the Lok Sabha elections and encountered setbacks from appellate tribunals and Delhi courts on these tax matters. It has accused the ruling BJP of engaging in "tax terrorism" against them just before the elections, alleging a systematic effort by the prime minister to financially weaken the party.
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