Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Delhi High Court delivered an order on Friday affirming the Income Tax departments stance that it possesses substantial and concrete evidence necessitating further examination of unaccounted income linked to the Indian National Congress (INC) for the assessment years spanning from 2014–15 to 2020–21. The court specifically pointed out instances of what it described as unaccounted transfers by Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) in three of these years.The Congress, expressed concerns over its frozen accounts, asserted that the action was politically motivated to hinder its participation in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Former party chief Sonia Gandhi accused PM Modi of orchestrating a systematic effort to financially weaken the Congress, as stated during a press conference on Thursday.In its order dismissing the INCs petition, a bench of justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav acknowledged the IT departments comprehensive evidence, referring to the Satisfaction Note documenting substantial details of unaccounted transactions. The note highlighted payments made during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2013 and 2018 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.The court scrutinized the arguments presented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Congress, challenging the tax notices validity based on the time limitation under Section 153C and the lack of explicit incriminating material in the satisfaction note. However, the bench found merit in the departments contentions, noting the specific references to unaccounted transactions for the assessment years in question.Further emphasizing the lapse in approaching the court in a timely manner, the judges pointed out that the assessment process should have concluded by March 31, 2024. The bench dismissed the petition, rejecting the Congresss plea based on the argument of limitation and supporting the departments stance on the matter.
