New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the decision of the Delhi High Court asking the Congress party to move the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) for a stay on the Income Tax demand notice for recovery of outstanding dues of more than Rs 100 crore.
The matter was taken up by a bench comprising justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh. Additional solicitor general N Venkataraman, representing the Income Tax department, submitted that the recovery of the outstanding amount has already been made and the issue in question is of only academic interest now.
Senior advocate Vivek Tankha, representing the Congress party, contended that the High Court should have exercised its jurisdiction and at least granted an interim stay on the demand notice.
The bench observed how the High Court directed the Congress party to return to the ITAT when it appealed against the tribunal's order. “The High Court was not right in not exercising its jurisdiction," the bench remarked.
The apex court issued notice on Congress's plea to the I-T department and clarified that ITAT can proceed with the party's plea before it. “The pendency of this SLP will not come in the way of the ITAT deciding the appeal before it….", said the bench.
The apex court was hearing a plea by the Congress party against a March 13 Delhi High Court ruling that there was no reason to interfere with the ITAT order.
However, the High Court had granted liberty to the political party to approach the ITAT with a fresh stay application bringing to its notice the change in the circumstances, including that an amount of Rs 65.94 crore, has already been recovered by the I-T department by way of encashment of bank drafts.
The IT department had issued notice to the Congress party for recovery of Rs 105 crore in outstanding tax for the assessment year 2018-19. In July 2021, the IT authorities had rejected the declaration of nil income by the Congress.
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