Congress moves Delhi High Court in tax penalty case

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) The Congress on Monday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the dismissal of its plea by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) against the imposition of penalties for discrepancies in certain tax returns.

The matter was mentioned by senior advocate Vivek Tankha before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela.

Tankha said it was an urgent matter as the accounts of the political party have been frozen.

Acting Chief Justice Manmohan agreed to list the case for hearing during the day if the petition is in order.

Last week, the ITAT had dismissed the Congress’ appeal against the imposition of penalties for discrepancies in tax returns for previous years.

The party has earlier said the I-T tribunal order freezing its funds was “an attack on democracy” as it had come ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

According to sources, the tribunal had dismissed the Congress’ appeal against the imposition of penalties amounting to Rs 210 crore by the Income Tax department.