On February 16, Congress Treasurer Ajay Maken initially announced that the Income Tax department had frozen 11 bank accounts of the party and its youth wing. However, Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Advocate, Vivek Tankha who appeared before the tribunal against the order, later clarified that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Delhi, had allowed the party to operate the ‘frozen’ accounts after the party filed an appeal.
Vivek Tankha argued before the tribunal that if the party's accounts stayed frozen, Congress couldn't join the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
ITAT is scheduled to consider the merits of the plea for interim relief next Wednesday after which the tribunal will make a final decision. The tribunal specified that an amount of ₹115 crore must be held in lien as collateral, allowing the party to spend beyond this amount.
Congress Treasurer Claims Party’s Bank Accounts Frozen
Congress treasurer Ajay Maken in a press conference, infomed the freezing of the bank accounts belonging to the Indian National Congress by the Income Tax department on what he described as ‘flimsy grounds’. This development, occurring barely two weeks before the announcement of general elections, significantly impacted all political activities of the party.
Maken highlighted that the Income Tax Department has raised a demand of Rs 210 crore from both the Congress and the Youth Congress, which Congress was supposed to file their I-T returns for 2018-19 by December 31, 2019, but the party was late by 40-45 days. He emphasised that this issue extended back over five financial years. He said the reason for freezing is ‘laughable’.
In a press conference he said, "It's not just the freezing of Congress' accounts; democracy itself has been frozen. With elections just a month away, the accounts of the principal Opposition party have been frozen.” "Will this lead to single-party rule in the country?" he questioned.
"We don't currently have enough money to spend on expenses like paying our employees' salaries or our electricity bills. Not only will Nyay Yatra be affected, but all political activities would be as well," Maken stated.
He added, "We were informed yesterday that the checks we are writing are not being honoured by the banks. We discovered after conducting additional research that the Youth Congress bank accounts have been frozen.
He also claimed that money from supporters' crowdfunds, all of which were made through digital transfers, was in the party's account. Ajay Maken claims that the Congress was not even allowed to spend the money that it had raised through their crowdfunding initiative. He further mentioned that most donations were under Rs 100 and were done through UPI.
Congress Chief called it a “This is a deep assault on India’s Democracy! “
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X, “Power drunk Modi Govt has frozen the accounts of the country’s largest Opposition party - the Indian National Congress - just before the Lok Sabha elections.”
“The unconstitutional money collected by the BJP would be utilised by them for elections, but the money collected by us through crowdfunding shall be sealed!”
He, expressing concern, stated, “That is why, I have said that there won’t be any elections in the future… We will take to the streets and fight strongly against this autocracy!” the Congress chief added.
He appealed to the Judiciary to save the multi-party system in this country and protect India's Democracy.
Congress Leaders React
Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post on X, "Don't be scared, Modi ji. The Congress represents the people's power, not the power of money. We will never submit to a dictatorship; we have never done so. "Every Congress worker will fight tooth and nail to protect India's democracy."
“shocking & utterly shameful”, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stated. Meanwhile, Sachin Pilot described it as “ a clear misuse of power”.
Months before the Lok Sabha elections,The Supreme Court declared the Center's anonymous political finance program, known as electoral bonds, to be "unconstitutional" on Thursday. Additionally, by March 13, the court mandated that the donors, amount, and recipients of the bond be disclosed.
©️ Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved Powered by Vygr Media
