New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a challenge to the income tax reassessment in connection with the National Herald case.
The matter was brought before a bench comprising justices A.K. Sikri and S. Abdul Nazeer who did not issue a formal notice or stay in the proceedings, and said that the matter would be taken up on 4 December.
The appeal was brought by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi against a Delhi high court order refusing to grant them relief against reopening of their income tax assessments for 2011-12 by the tax department.
On 10 September, a bench of justices S. Ravindra Bhat and A.K. Chawla of the Delhi high court had dismissed a challenge to reviewing tax assessments of the Gandhis in connection with the National Herald newspaper, since material facts had been concealed.
The Congress leaders had moved the Delhi High Court after the I-T department served them a notice in March saying that their tax filings were set to be reviewed.
The two Congress leaders along with Young India Pvt. Ltd, in which they were directors, were faced with an investigation by the tax department for transactions dating back to 2011-12 after the Delhi high court allowed the same in 2017.
The case at that time was based on a private criminal complaint lodged by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy, alleging cheating, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), he publisher of National Herald newspaper, by Young India through assignment of a Rs90 crore loan for Rs50 lakh by the Congress party.
The I-T department had already issued a demand notice for Rs 249.15 crore to Young India for the assessment year 2011-12.
The matter will be heard next on 4 December.