NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department of India has decided to defer the pursuit of a 35-billion rupee (US$420 million) payment from the cou...
NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department of India has decided to defer the pursuit of a 35-billion rupee (US$420 million) payment from the country's primary opposition party, Congress, until after the culmination of the general elections in June. This announcement was made to the nation's top court on Monday (Apr 1).
This move by the tax department provides a temporary relief to the Congress party, which has been issued multiple income tax notices in recent weeks. Moreover, authorities had previously levied penalties amounting to 1.35 billion rupees from the party's bank accounts, just weeks ahead of the commencement of voting on Apr 19.
The Congress party has denounced these actions as politically motivated, alleging that these measures are aimed at financially incapacitating them and hindering their election campaign funding.
Contrary to these claims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has refuted any political interference in the matter. The BJP asserts that the Income Tax department is merely enforcing the regulations related to tax law violations.
Tushar Mehta, India's solicitor-general, informed the Supreme Court that the Income Tax department would refrain from initiating any "coercive action" against the Congress party until after the election period. The general elections, scheduled in seven phases, will take place from Apr 19 to Jun 1, with the vote counting set for Jun 4.
The Supreme Court has slated Jul 24 as the date for the subsequent hearing on this tax-related issue.
No comments