New Delhi: The Union government has told the Supreme Court that ‘no coercive action’ will be taken against the Congress party over the Income Tax department’s demand of approximately Rs 3,500 crores in tax. This undertaking will be applicable till July 2024 because of the impending Lok Sabha election.
LiveLaw reported that the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta made this undertaking on behalf of the government before a bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih.
The Congress on March 29 said that it had received notices from the IT Department to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore. In February, the party had accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of “financial terrorism” and alleged that Rs 65 crore has been “looted” from its accounts.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, according to news agency PTI, said that demand notices from different years totalled approximately Rs 3,500 crore.
The party has said that the IT Department and the Election Commission turned a blind eye towards the BJP’s own tax evasion which it alleged was to the tune of Rs 4,617.58 crore.
According to the LiveLaw report, the bench was hearing a civil appeal filed by the Congress party in 2018 against a 2016 judgment of the Delhi high court. As part of the same appeal, Congress has moved an interim application seeking stay of the recent demand notices and the high court’s findings.
SG Mehta said that even though the present appeal was unrelated to the tax notices, the government will defer coercive steps keeping in mind the impending elections. The matter was next listed for July 24. This is a month after the results of the elections will be declared in early June.
The bench also recorded that the demand of approximately Rs 3500 crores is not strictly relatable to the controversy in these appeals, LiveLaw noted.
