'Action Will Be Taken When...': Rahul Gandhi Reacts After Congress Receives Fresh I-T Notice of Rs 1,700 Cr

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Income Tax Department issued a demand notice of Rs 1,700 crore to the Congress party. As per sources, the fresh notice issued to the party is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest.

This comes a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed the party’s petition challenging the tax notices, sources said.

The Grand Old Party has alleged that the Centre wants to freeze bank accounts.

Commenting on the Income Tax Department notice, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the ruling BJP-led Central government, accusing it of engaging in “tax terrorism” and warned that when the government changes, action will be taken against those who have “destroyed democracy”.

“When the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who ‘violate democracy’! And such action will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again. This is my guarantee,” Gandhi said in a social media post on X.

Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Ajay Maken also said, “BJP in serious violation of tax laws, IT department should raise demand of over Rs 4,600 crore from it”. He further said that on April 1 the party will go to the Supreme Court again over this matter.

On Congress’ press conference on IT notices to the party, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “Congress party thinks that it is above the Constitution and law of the country. It thinks that it can become a tax defaulter, lie and play victim. Common people have to pay tax but Congress keeps itself in a special VVIP category. When their ‘theft’ was caught, they didn’t want to pay tax. The question is when they received the 2021, you delayed challenging it and when you challenged it you received no relief…While opposing PM Modi and BJP, today Congress has started attacking institutions of the country too. This shows the frustration levels of Congress. Rs 350 Crores was found on the premises of their MP Dhiraj Sahu. Their 50 MPs will collectively have a lot of money. It is not the lack of money, Congress party lacks candidates and intentions.”

On March 28, the Delhi High Court rejected petitions by the Congress that challenged the initiation of tax reassessment proceedings against it for four years by tax authorities. The pleas were dismissed in terms of its earlier decision refusing to interfere with the opening of reassessment for another period, a bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said.

In the petition which was dismissed last week, the Congress party had challenged initiation of reassessment proceedings pertaining to assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17.

Last Friday, the Delhi High Court had noted that the Income Tax Department appears to have collated “substantial and concrete evidence” regarding unaccounted transactions worth Rs 520 crore involving the Congress party with respect to Lok Sabha Elections 2019 and Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in 2018 and 2013.

The court also dismissed the Congress petition that IT department must not re-open the assessments of the years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 filed by the party. The HC has said that Congress chose to approach it only a few days before the time of completion of assessment would expire (March 31) and at the proverbial fag end of proceedings.

The IT Department wanted to re-open assessments of the Congress from 2014 until 2021 after it found “incriminating evidence” in searches showing unaccounted transactions of the party.