Deposit Rs 10 cr with Tax Dept,Young Indian told

New Delhi, March 19

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed Young Indian (YI) Pvt Ltd, in which Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are major stakeholders, to deposit Rs 10 crore in the Rs 249.15-crore income tax proceedings against it.

A Bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and AK Chawla directed the company — earlier summoned along with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused by a trial court in the National Herald misappropriation of assets case — to deposit half the amount with the Income Tax Department before March 31 and the remaining by April 15.

The HC said subject to deposit of the amount, the tax authorities shall not enforce the demand of Rs 249.15 crore made on the company for the assessment year 2011-12. It also sought the tax department’s response on YI’s plea challenging the demand and the proceedings and listed the matter for further hearing on April 24.

Young Indian, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all shareholdings of Associated Journal Ltd (AJL), the owner of National Herald newspaper.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for YI, told the court that it would be difficult to raise Rs 10 crore as the amount was being collected through individual contributions and sought that the amount be fixed at Rs 7.5 crore. He also urged the Bench to allow the company to deposit the amount in court, saying it was difficult to get a refund from the Tax Department.

Advocate Ashish Jain, representing the tax deaprtment, opposed YI’s oral pleas and said the company had to actually deposit Rs 49 crore, 20 per cent of the demand, for its appeal to be heard. The Bench refused to grant the YI’s oral pleas and directed it to deposit Rs 10 crore with the I-T Department.

The amount was required to be deposited, if YI’s appeal against the demand was to be heard by the I-T authorities. The high court also directed the tax authorities to expeditiously hear YI’s appeal against the assessment order.

YI has approached the HC seeking a direction to stay the recovery of the demand of tax and interest of Rs 249.15 crore, raised following a notice of December 27, 2017, issued under Section 156 of the I-T Act for the assessment year 2011-12. It has also challenged the order of the I-T authorities rejecting the firm’s application and sought a stay on the direction to pay Rs 49.83 crore.

YI, in its plea, has claimed that the I-T authorities have wrongly raised a demand of Rs 249 crore for the assessment year of 2011-12. — PTI