Income Tax Tribunal De-freezes Congress’ Bank Accounts Following Furore

New Delhi: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal de-froze Congress’s bank accounts until a hearing next week, said Congress leader Vivek Tankha. This action came when leaders of the main Opposition party slammed the IT department’s action on “flimsy” and “laughable” grounds” affecting its political activities before the general elections.

Tankha appeared before the Income Tax Tribunal on Friday. He told the tribunal that the Congress would be unable to participate in the polls in case its accounts remain frozen.

The tribunal said that it will hear the matter next Wednesday before a final decision is taken.

Earlier, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said the action accounts were frozen on Wednesday following an income tax demand of Rs 210 crore. Maken said the party was unable to use even the funds received via crowd-funding.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge called the action “a deep assault on India’s democracy. He added “unconstitutional money” collected by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be utilised for elections, but the money collected through crowdfunding shall be sealed.

The comments came a day after the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme of political funding, declaring it to be “unconstitutional”. The BJP received 54.8%, or Rs 6,566.12 crore of the electoral bonds.