New Delhi: Just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress suffered a significant blow when the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) rejected the party's request to halt the department's action against its bank accounts. Following Friday's denial of the petition challenging the IT action, Congress attorney Vivek Tankha filed an appeal to have the order placed on hold for ten days.
The leader of the Congress' legal department, Tankha, said that the Delhi High Court would be the party's next court of appeal because the tribunal had not adhered to its norms. To allow the Indian National Congress (INC) to file an appeal with the High Court, Senior Advocate Tankha, representing the Congress, asked that the order be placed on hold for ten days.
The bench, however, rejected the plea, stating that no such provision or prayer was presented to it. Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken responded to the ITAT ruling by saying that the party is considering its legal options and will appeal the ruling to the higher court.
"We are disappointed with the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal order. We will be moving the High Court very soon. They have not followed their past precedents in granting relief on payment of 20 per cent penalty and that too to a national party which is now on the verge of contesting national elections, which are going to be notified soon," Vivek Tankha, the Congress counsel said.
Maken said that they got information yesterday that banks are not honouring the cheques they are issuing. "On further investigation, we got to know that the Youth Congress bank accounts have been frozen. The accounts of the Congress party have also been seized."
The Congress said on February 16 that the Income Tax Department had frozen ₹ 115 crore in its bank accounts after requesting ₹ 210 crore in taxes and penalties for the 2018–19 fiscal year, which coincided with an election year. A few days later, Maken declared that the department had taken out ₹ 65 crore from three of the party's accounts, despite the ITAT hearing a case challenging the assertion.
"Income tax asked for ₹210 crore recovery from Youth Congress and Congress party. The crowdfunding money in our accounts has been frozen. Just 2 weeks before elections when the opposition's accounts are frozen, it is equivalent to freezing the democracy" Maken added. Ahead of the country's general elections, Congress claimed that the government was engaging in "financial terrorism" and that this was an attempt to "cripple" India's primary opposition party.
"The unconstitutional money that BJP has collected will be used in the elections, but the money we have collected through crowdfunding will be sealed. That is why we have said that there will be no elections in the future! We appeal to the judiciary to save the multi-party system in this country and secure India's democracy. We will take to the streets and fight strongly against this injustice and dictatorship," Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had said earlier.
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