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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsRahul Gandhi said “there is no democracy in India today” at a Congress press conference in New Delhi on March 21, 2024, after the party said tax-related action had restricted access to its bank accounts ahead of the Lok Sabha election. The remark was Gandhi’s political characterization, not a court finding. The dispute involved tax demands and reassessment proceedings, and reports described both account access subject to a lien and separate claims that funds had been taken.
What Rahul Gandhi said—and why
At the March 21, 2024 press conference, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi discussed tax-related restrictions on the party’s accounts. Gandhi said Congress could not carry out campaign work, support its workers and candidates, or place advertisements. He argued that institutional silence about the action showed that “there is no democracy in India today.” Scroll reported the remarks and the party’s account of the restrictions.
That statement was Gandhi’s political claim about the effect on election competition. The cited reporting does not independently establish that India lacked democracy, nor does it show a court ruling on that question.
What was reported about the accounts
Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said the accounts had been frozen in connection with a tax demand for financial year 2018–19. But the procedural description is more specific: Scroll reported that on February 16, 2024, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal allowed Congress to operate its accounts while requiring it to maintain Rs 115 crore as a lien. A lien is a legal claim against assets; this report does not describe the entire account balance as seized.
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The Associated Press reported separate figures that Maken supplied: a lien of 2.1 billion rupees ($25 million), 1.1 billion rupees ($14 million) taken from accounts, and 1.9 billion rupees ($24 million) in donations received in 2017–18. These are Maken’s figures as reported by AP, not independently verified totals. They should not be merged with Scroll’s Rs 115 crore account of the tribunal-ordered lien, which is a different reported figure and description. AP’s report attributes its figures to Maken.
Congress and the BJP gave different explanations
Congress’s account
Congress connected the account action to tax demands and reassessment proceedings. Maken also said the party had received notice to reopen a 1994–95 assessment. The party challenged reopening proceedings for financial years 2014–15, 2015–16 and 2016–17; Scroll reported on March 21 that the High Court had reserved judgment on that petition.
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The BJP’s response
The BJP rejected Congress’s allegations. AP reported the BJP’s explanation that Congress had failed to file an income-tax return for cash donations received in 2017–18, causing it to lose the tax exemption available to political parties. AP described the action as a partial freeze. That explanation is the BJP’s position, not a court finding about political motive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened in court after the press conference
The Delhi High Court’s subsequent decisions concerned reassessment proceedings, not whether India was a democracy. Scroll reported that the court dismissed Congress petitions challenging reassessment proceedings for financial years 2014–15 through 2016–17 on March 22, 2024. On March 28, it rejected petitions concerning financial years 2017–18 through 2020–21. In its account of the latter decision, Scroll quoted the court as saying the Income Tax Department “appears to have collated substantial and concrete evidence warranting further scrutiny and examination” under the Income Tax Act. Read Scroll’s report on the March 28 decision.
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Those reported rulings allowed the reassessment proceedings to continue; they do not, by themselves, establish the final outcome of every tax dispute or any later appeal. The cited March 2024 reports do not establish the subsequent status of the assessments, liens or appeals as of October 8, 2026.
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How to read the dispute
- Account access: Congress publicly described its accounts as frozen and said the restrictions impaired campaign activity. Scroll reported that the tribunal permitted account operation subject to a lien.
- Tax process: Congress and the BJP offered competing accounts of why the tax action occurred. The court proceedings reported in March 2024 addressed reassessment challenges, not the parties’ political claims about motive.
- Election fairness: Gandhi argued that the restrictions undermined democratic competition. The available reporting documents that allegation and its context but does not independently decide its broader claim about Indian democracy.
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