In a significant legal development, the Delhi High Court has rejected the Congress party’s petitions challenging tax reassessment proceedings initiated by the Income Tax Department. The court’s decision comes after it reserved its order on March 20 regarding the pleas filed by the political party against the tax reassessment for three consecutive years: 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17.
A bench comprising Justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav pronounced the verdict, stating, “We dismiss the writ petitions.” A detailed order from the court is awaited to shed further light on the ruling.
The Congress party had contested the reassessment proceedings, arguing that they were time-barred. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the party, contended that tax reassessment proceedings are limited by statute, allowing the Income Tax Department to revisit assessments for a maximum of six years.
Contrary to the party’s claims, the Income Tax Department asserted that there was no violation of statutory provisions in initiating the reassessment. The department cited recovered material indicating an “escaped” income by the party amounting to over ₹520 crore.
This legal battle follows recent developments where the high court declined to interfere with an order from the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, which denied a stay on a notice issued to the Congress for the recovery of outstanding taxes exceeding ₹100 crore. The assessing officer had raised a tax demand of more than ₹100 crore for the assessment year 2018-19, with the assessed income exceeding ₹199 crore during that period.
Sources By Agencies
