Delhi High Court rejects Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's pleas opposing I-T notice seeking tax reassessment

The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s pleas challenging the income tax notice seeking tax reassessment for the financial year 2011-2012. A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and AK Chawla said, “The writ petitions have failed.”

The bench also dismissed the petition of Congress leader Oscar Fernandes, who too had challenged the reopening of his tax assessment for the same year.

On 16 August, the high court had reserved its verdict on the pleas of the three leaders after the Income Tax Department had contended that Rahul’s tax assessment for 2011-2012 was reopened as material facts were concealed. The bench had orally asked the I-T department not to take any coercive step against the Gandhis and Fernandes till it pronounced its verdict.

Congress leader and senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for Sonia, had said he had faith in the oral statement made by Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who had argued that the Congress leaders had alleged “mala fide” on the part of the tax department but had not made any averments in this regard.

The court on Monday also said that the tax department has the authority to reopen tax proceedings, and that the petitioners can approach I-T department with their grievances, reported The Economic Times.

The income tax cases against the Congress leaders arose from the investigation into the private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before a trial court in connection with the National Herald case.

In his complaint, Swamy accused Sonia, Rahul and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which the Young India Pvt Ltd had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed the Congress.

The complaint claimed that Young India, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all the shares of the AJL, which was running The National Herald, the Congress mouthpiece. In this process, Young India had also allegedly acquired AJL’s debt of Rs 90 crore.

The I-T department had alleged that Rahul’s tax assessment for 2011-2012 was re-opened because the Congress president had not disclosed that he was the director of Young India since 2010, and therefore, his shares in the company would have earned him an income of Rs 154 crore, not Rs 68 lakh as was assessed earlier. I-T sleuths have already issued a demand notice for Rs 249.15 crore to Young India for the assessment year 2011-2012.

The department’s move followed its investigation into a complaint alleging that the Gandhis had misappropriated AJL’s assets while transferring their shares to the newly formed Young India.

With inputs from agencies