The notice that Congress received from the IT department is a major relief. Due to the impending Lok Sabha elections, the central government promised the Supreme Court on Monday that no punitive action will be taken against the Congress for their income tax demand of over Rs 3500 crore till July 2024. The case will next be heard on July 24, 2024.Injustice ruled out!A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih heard the assurance from Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, who was speaking on behalf of the Center. According to Live Law, the bench was deliberating over a civil appeal that the Congress party had filed in 2018 against a Delhi High Court ruling from 2016. The party in the appeal had filed an interim motion in March asking for a stay of the High Courts rulings as well as the most recent demand notice that the Income Tax Department had sent out.Congress and Income TaxThe Congress party has received fresh summons from the Income Tax Department for five years (1994–1995, 2017–2018, and 2020–21) requesting that it pay Rs 1,823 crore, only weeks before the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 begins. In addition, the Income Tax Department sent the party a letter on Saturday requesting Rs 1,745 crore for the assessment years 2014–15 through 2016–17.IT raids and history The IT department carried out raids in advance of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, claiming to have discovered unauthorized transactions of Rs 523.87 crore. This led to the sequence of notices that followed.In response to the notification, the Congress charged that the Central government, led by the BJP, was engaging in tax terrorism to financially ruin it before the Lok Sabha elections. BJP is involved in tax terrorism and measures are being made to damage Congress financially, stated Jairam Ramesh, a representative for the Congress, during a news conference on Friday. Ajay Maken, a senior party leader, charged that the BJP was seriously breaking tax regulations.
