No coercive steps to recover ₹3,500 crore from Congress, Income Tax dept tell SC

In light of the April-June general elections, the department, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, submitted before the court that it will not be resorting to any urgent action to retrieve the money from the party.

“The petitioner is a political party. This impugned judgment is from 2016 and based on these parameters, a demand was raised in 2021. In March 2024, we recovered ₹ 134 crore and now we have raised a demand of ₹1,700 crores based on the same parameters. Since elections are going on, until the matter is heard after elections, we will not take any action for recovery of this amount,” Mehta told a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and AG Masih.

At this, the bench commended the law officer’s statement and recorded his undertaking in response to an application moved by Congress against a series of demand notices issued against the party last month.