"No Coercive Action Until Lok Sabha Elections": I-T Department In Supreme Court As Congress Needs To Pay Rs 3,567 Crore

The Income-Tax (I-T) department assured the Supreme Court on Monday (1 April) that it would not take any coercive action against Congress as the total tax demand from the opposition party stands at Rs 3,567 crore.

On behalf of the I-T department, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that to avoid "any problem to any political party," the coercive action for tax recovery can wait until the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Indian Express reported that the matter will now be heard on 24 July as the counting of votes is set to take place on 4 June after voting in seven phases across the country.

This comes after the Congress on Saturday received fresh notices of Rs 1,745 crore from the I-T department. A day earlier on Friday, a demand of approximately Rs 1,700 crore was raised by the tax authority.

Combining the string of notices for assessment years 1994-95 and 2014-15 to 2020-21, the total tax demand from Congress stands at Rs 3,567 crore.

Congress lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha called these demands "High of insanity" and called out the ruling BJP for "an astronomical figure."

He posted on X, "BJP must thank and felicitate select officers of the Revenue department for their studious and loyal adherence to BJP mission of 'Congress Mukta Bharat'".

"But they have misjudged the intelligence and gravitas of people of India. Indian electorate has never supported autocratic conduct. No Democracy possible sans opposition parties," he added.

Prior to these notices, the I-T department had already recovered Rs 135 crore from Congress bank accounts in Delhi, related to tax arrears and interests for the assessment year 2018-19.

On 22 March, the Supreme Court dismissed Congress's petitions challenging tax reassessment proceedings for the assessment years 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17.