Congress claims I-T department 'withdrew' Rs 65 crore from banks accounts

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday claimed that the Income Tax Department has "withdrawn" Rs 65.25 crore from its accounts, raising "crucial question" about the state of democracy in the country.

In a post on social media platform X, Party Treasurer Ajay Maken claimed that the IT Department on Tuesday mandated banks to transfer over Rs 65.25 crore -- Rs five crore from Youth Congress and NSU(I) and Rs 60.25 crores from Congress -- marking a "concerning move" by the BJP government.

"Is it common for National Political Parties to pay Income Tax? No. Does the BJP pay Income Tax? No. Why then is the Congress Party facing an unprecedented demand of Rs 210 crore? During today’s ITAT proceedings, we presented our case. The hearing is set to continue tomorrow," he said.

The funds in question were raised through grassroots efforts, including crowdfunding and membership drives by the IYC and NSUI. This situation raises a crucial question about the state of democracy. Is it under threat? Our hope now lies with the judiciary," he said in the post.

Maken also claimed that "democracy will be over" if the action of probe agencies goes "unchecked". The IT Department's actions came despite the appellate authorities hearing the case, he said.

In another post, he said, "since yesterday evening, Congress has been a victim of the anti-democratic attitude of the government machinery. We have full faith in the judicial system of India."

Last week, Congress said that its nine bank accounts were frozen by the IT Department on February 14 on “flimsy grounds” after raising a tax notice of Rs 210 crore related to 2018-19.

On a petition filed by the Congress, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on Friday allowed the party to operate the account but after maintaining Rs 115 crore in its accounts. Congress said its accounts do not have that much money.

Maken said the IT Department has raised the tax notice on the ground of a delay of 40-45 days in submitting returns for 2018-19 and Rs 14.40 lakh contributed by MPs and MLAs in cash in that fiscal. In 2018-19, he said, the total receipts of Congress was around Rs 199 crore.