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SC agrees to hear Sonia, Rahul Gandhi’s plea against reopening of tax assessments

The Delhi High Court had in September dismissed the pleas of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi challenging reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12.

SC agrees to hear Sonia, Rahul Gandhi’s plea against reopening of tax assessments

The top court will hear the appeals on December 4. (File Photo: SNS)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the appeals of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Oscar Fernandes against the reopening of tax assessments in the National Herald case.

The top court will hear the appeals on December 4, according to an ANI alert.

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The Delhi High Court had in September dismissed the pleas of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi challenging reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12.

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A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla had also dismissed the petition of Congress leader Oscar Fernandes who too had challenged the reopening of his tax assessment for the same year.

The high court had on August 16 reserved its order on the pleas of the three leaders after the Income Tax Department had contended that Rahul Gandhi’s tax assessment for 2011-12 was reopened as material facts were concealed.

The income tax cases against the Congress leaders have arisen from the probe into the private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before a trial court in connection with the National Herald case.

In the complaint, Sonia, Rahul and others have been accused of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young India (YI) had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed to the Congress party.

It was alleged that YI, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all shareholdings of the AJL, which was running the National Herald newspaper.

In this process, YI had also acquired AJL’s debt of Rs 90 crore.

The tax department had said the shares Rahul has in YI would lead him to have an income of Rs 154 crore and not about Rs 68 lakh, as was assessed earlier.

It has already issued a demand notice for Rs 249.15 crore to YI for the assessment year 2011-12.

(With PTI inputs)

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