“Congress chose to stir up political row even though it had time to respond.”

NEW DELHI: According to sources, the income tax department has finished reviewing the Congress party’s returns for the last seven years. However, they insisted that the major opposition party was given sufficient opportunity to comment and that all relevant information had been supplied.
“All along, they were aware of what was going on, but they chose to move when the deadline was fast approaching and sought to make a political issue out of it,” according to a source.

The deadline for completing the reevaluation was March 31.
The remarks were made the day after tax officials demanded more than Rs 1,800 crore, citing a four-year reassessment period from 2017–18 to 2020–21.
The whole effort lasted seven financial years, beginning with the assessment year 2014–15 (financial year 2013–14) and was predicated on suspected cash transfers that surfaced during searches on firms in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat.
The “IT department made sure that the natural justice principle was upheld.”
“The department always ensures that the principle of natural justice is followed and provides all material to the taxpayer based on which the department intends to make additions in the taxpayer’s hands,” an income-tax department source said in response to Congress’ accusations that the government was engaging in “tax terrorism.” Congress has also adopted the same procedure. Congress received all of the department’s available evidence.
According to sources, the whole procedure was carried out in compliance with established legal rules and included reviewing all available data both before and throughout the evaluation process.
The “incriminating material” found during search operations in April 2019—which suggested widespread usage of cash in the voting process—formed the basis for the reevaluation.

A portion of the material was also handed to the Delhi High Court, which was considering writ cases brought by the Congress in opposition to the actions of the income tax department.
The court issued two orders, the first of which was based on 300 pages of evidence that was provided to it under sealed cover and included information on purported cash transactions, including transfers to the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road and to specific party officials.
The information was purportedly gathered from Kamal Nath’s previous connections as chief minister of MP and from evidence discovered during searches for Megha Engineering, whose name was heavily featured in the electoral bonds list. At least Rs 524 crore may have avoided assessment, the tax agency had told the court.

The Delhi High Court had rejected the petitions and said that the tax department has significant and tangible evidence that is legally required to be further examined.
Additionally, it noted that the “satisfaction note” described unreported transactions in detail and that Congress was unable to prove that the “satisfaction note’s” material foundation is devoid of relevant records or evidence.