NEW DELHI: In a reprieve for the Congress, the Income Tax Department on Monday told the Supreme Court that it will not take any coercive steps against the party for the recovery of Rs 3,500 crore tax until the Lok Sabha elections.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna that since the Lok Sabha elections were going on, the Income Tax Department would not take any coercive action for recovery of the amount for which demand notices had been issued till the matter was heard after the polls. The Bench, which also included Augustine George Masih, recorded the statement made by the Solicitor General and listed the matter for hearing in July after the summer vacation. At the very outset of the hearing, Mehta said, “To balance the equity. The petitioner is a political party. Based on the 2016 judgment, which is under challenge, we have raised the demand of Rs 1,700 crore. Since the election is going on, we would not like any problem to arise for any party and therefore, till the matter is heard after the election, we will not take any action for recovery of Rs 1,700 crore.”
Terming it as “gracious”, senior advocate AM Singhvi, who represented the Congress, appreciated the Solicitor General’s gesture. “By my learned friend’s (Mehta’s) intervention, I have been rendered speechless…. I am very rarely rendered speechless,” Singhvi said after Justice Nagarathna told him, “You shouldn’t perceive negatively about someone all the time.”
The Congress on Sunday had received fresh notices from the Income Tax Department, raising a tax demand of Rs 1,745 crore for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17.
The authorities have ended the tax exemption available to political parties and have taxed the party for the entire collections, sources said. On March 22, the Delhi High Court dismissed the Congress’ plea challenging reassessment proceedings initiated against it by the I-T Department, saying the tax authority had collated “substantial and concrete” evidence warranting further scrutiny and examination.