Congress poses 5 questions after legal relief over Income tax demand
The Congress party has welcomed the Union Government's assurance, presented before the Supreme Court, to withhold coercive actions regarding an income tax demand of approximately Rs 3,500 crore until July 2024, citing the impending Lok Sabha elections.
FollowThe Congress has welcomed the Union Government's commitment, made before the Supreme Court, to refrain from taking any coercive actions against the party regarding an income tax demand of around Rs 3,500 crore until July 2024, due to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, representing the Union Government, conveyed this assurance before a bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih.
The bench was addressing a civil appeal initiated by the Congress party in 2018, challenging a 2016 verdict of the Delhi High Court. In its appeal, the party had filed an interim application requesting a stay on recent demand notices issued by the Income Tax Department in March, as well as the High Court's findings.
The Solicitor General clarified that the matter under consideration in the current appeal was not directly linked to the recent tax notices served to the Congress party. Nevertheless, in light of the impending elections, the Department has agreed to postpone any coercive measures.
Congress Poses 5 Questions
While welcoming the Solicitor General's statement in court that no coercive steps will be taken to enforce the Income Tax demands on the Congress party, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram -- in a post on social media platform X -- raised 5 questions:Â
* Can demands be raised on a political party when all political parties are exempt from income tax?Â
* Can a demand be raised on a political party for tax, interest and penalty that will effectively cripple the party?Â
* Can such demands be made during the period when national elections are held to elect a new Lok Sabha?Â
* Can free, fair and democratic elections be scuttled by raising preposterous demands for humongous sums of money? What will prevail? Democratic elections or tax demands?Â
* Are such demands for tax illegal because they are unreasonable and disproportionate, and violate constitutional morality in a democratic country?
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