News On AIR reported on March 29, 2024, that the Income Tax Department had served Congress a fresh recovery notice for Rs 1,823 crore, relating to several past years. The notice was reported less than three weeks before the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, making it both a tax dispute and a political flashpoint. The figure was reported, not finally itemized or adjudicated in the court orders issued that month.
Why did Congress get the Rs 1,823 crore notice?
The reported demand followed tax proceedings involving the party’s assessments and its claim to an exemption under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act. News On AIR described the March 29, 2024 action as a fresh recovery notice concerning liabilities from several past years. The notice itself is not included in the cited reporting, so the available sources do not establish an authoritative year-by-year calculation of tax, interest or penalties behind the aggregate amount.
Congress leaders said the notices covered five financial years: 1994-95 and 2017-18 through 2020-21. The Indian Express reported the party’s account that detailed orders explaining the alleged income for each year had not yet been served and that demands for 2014-15 through 2016-17 were still awaited. Those year details are Congress’s account as reported by the newspaper, not an independently verified breakdown of the March 29 amount.
What had happened in court before the reported demand?
Three events are important, but they addressed different questions. The tribunal’s interim decision concerned an earlier recovery dispute; the High Court considered challenges to reassessment proceedings; the March 29 report concerned a new aggregate recovery notice.
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| Date | Proceeding or report | What it addressed |
|---|---|---|
| March 8, 2024 | Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi Bench | Declined Congress’s request for an interim stay in an earlier recovery matter involving the Section 13A exemption dispute. The order recounted a July 6, 2021 assessment order and a February 13, 2024 recovery notice under Section 226(3). |
| March 22, 2024 | Delhi High Court | Rejected Congress’s challenges to reassessment proceedings for assessment years 2014-15 through 2020-21, addressing the legal basis for reopening those assessments. |
| March 29, 2024 | News On AIR report | Reported a fresh recovery notice of Rs 1,823 crore concerning several past years. |
The March 8 tribunal order
The tribunal declined interim relief in the earlier recovery dispute. Its order discussed the department’s denial of the party’s claimed Section 13A exemption and an earlier recovery notice; it was not a final ruling on every component of the later Rs 1,823 crore demand.
The March 22 High Court judgment
The High Court rejected the challenges before it to reassessment notices and proceedings for assessment years 2014-15 through 2020-21. The dispute included whether a consolidated satisfaction note could support proceedings and what seized material had to show. The judgment discussed the department’s stated material concerning cash transactions and elections, but its ruling on reopening assessments should not be treated as a final itemized judgment establishing the subsequently reported aggregate demand.
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Was the notice politically motivated?
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the tax department of being used to harass the principal opposition party. Congress leaders called the action “tax terrorism.” Kharge also said that Rs 135 crore had already been withdrawn from party accounts, describing the funds as crowd-sourced; that amount is his reported statement, not an independently verified figure in the cited material.
BJP spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam defended the department’s actions and alleged that Congress had failed to follow tax filing and appeal procedures. These are opposing political claims. Neither claim, by itself, establishes the department’s motive or resolves the tax dispute.
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What the notice and court rulings do—and do not—establish
- The March 29, 2024 report establishes that a fresh recovery notice for Rs 1,823 crore was reported by News On AIR; it does not provide an authoritative itemization of the amount.
- The five financial years cited by The Indian Express were attributed to Congress’s account of the notices.
- The March 22 High Court ruling rejected challenges to reassessment proceedings for specified assessment years; it was not a final adjudication of the full later-reported demand.
- The March 8 tribunal decision declined an interim stay in an earlier recovery matter; it did not decide the eventual outcome of the reported Rs 1,823 crore notice.
- The cited material does not verify the current final status of the complete demand as of October 8, 2026. It therefore does not establish that the amount remains unpaid, unchanged or finally settled.
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