The Income Tax department informed the Supreme Court on Monday that it will not use coercive measures to recover a demand of ₹3,500 crore, including the levy of notices worth about ₹1,700 crore that were issued last week. This is a significant relief for the Congress, which is struggling financially ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The department, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, filed a submission with the court stating that it will not be taking any immediate action to recover the money from the party due to the April-June general elections. A political party is the petitioner. A demand was made in 2021 based on the terms of this contested 2016 judgment. We collected ₹ 134 crore in March 2024, and now, using the same criteria, we have demanded ₹ 1,700 crores. Mehta informed a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and AG Masih, “Since elections are ongoing, we will not take any action for recovery of this amount until the matter is heard after elections.”
The case before the apex court pertains to the appeal by the against a 2016 decision of the Delhi high court in 2016 denying tax exemption.
Earlier, the Congress party had in a press conference stated that the party was being harassed due to the fact that elections were around the corner and all thier funds were being frozen.
