Congress Treasurer Ajay Maken on February 16, 2024, informed that the banks accounts of Indian National Congress and Indian Youth Congress has been frozen by the Income Tax department.
Mr. Maken said the action is on account of a 45-day delay in filing IT return for the year 2018-19.
“It is not a freezing of Congress’ account but democracy has been frozen. When the announcement for elections are just a month away, they have frozen the account of the principal Opposition party,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi. “Will there be a single party rule in the country?” he wondered.
In all, four accounts of the Congress party has been frozen. Mr Maken said the party has approached the Income-Tax Appellate Authority (ITAT) to defreeze their account.
The income tax department raised a demand of ₹210 crore from the party. Mr. Maken said, they were supposed to file their I-T returns for 2018-19 by December 31, 2019, but the party was late by 40-45 days.