Relief From Tax Tribunal: Congress Party’s Accounts Unfrozen After Appealing To Income Tax Appellate

The Congress party encountered a temporary setback today as the Income Tax department froze its primary bank accounts, including those of the Youth Congress. However, swift action from the party led to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal granting relief by unfreezing the accounts until a final hearing next week.

Treasurer Maken condemned the move:

In a statement, the Congress clarified that it is required to maintain ₹115 crore in its bank accounts, as mandated by tax authorities, which were frozen. Party treasurer Ajay Maken condemned the move, labeling it a “disturbing blow to the democratic process” and alleging political motivation behind the tax demand of ₹210 crore.

Maken emphasized the party’s commitment to legal action. The freezing of four accounts has disrupted the party’s financial transactions, with banks instructed not to accept Congress’ cheques.

He further elaborated, “Right now we don’t have any money to spend, to pay electricity bills, to pay salaries to our employees. Everything will be impacted, not only Nyay Yatra but all political activities will be impacted.”

“We got information yesterday that banks are not honoring the cheque we are issuing. On further investigation, we got to know that the Youth Congress bank accounts have been frozen,” he further said.

Also read: Congress Party’s Bank Accounts Frozen: Treasurer Ajay Maken Claims, ‘No Money to Pay Electricity Bill, Salaries’

The Congress vows to pursue justice through legal channels, highlighting discrepancies in the handling of similar cases in the past. Despite the setback, the party remains determined to uphold democratic principles and continue its election preparations.

What AAP leaders said on the matter

On Congress leader Ajay Maken’s ‘Youth Congress bank accounts frozen’ statement, AAP minister Saurabh Bharadwaj says, “AAP is facing this for a longer time. For many years, the BJP-administered IT department was behind our accounts. Now they want to seal the Congress’ account. But they should tell this country about the corporates from which more than Rs 6000 crores were received by the BJP through illegal & unconstitutional electoral bonds. They should tell if the BJP has benefitted those corporates.”

The reason behind freezing the accounts:

On account of non-filing of return of income within the time limit prescribed by section 139(4B) of the Income Tax Act thereby violating provisions of Section 13 A of the Act for the FY 2018-19, and on account of accepting donations over ₹2,000 in cash amounting to ₹11.49 lacs.