Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that the Income Tax department had mala fide intention in sending the reassessment notice to the Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI).Sonia Gandhi's counsel and senior advocate P. Chidambaram told a bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice A.K. Chawla that she has not earned any income as a shareholder of Young India Pvt Ltd which acquired Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publishers of the erstwhile English daily National Herald.The court was hearing the plea of Sonia Gandhi and her party colleague Oscar Fernandes against March 31 I-T notice seeking tax reassessment.The I-T department had issued notice to Sonia Gandhi and Fernandes on for allegedly not disclosing their income earned through YI in the year 2011-2012."I received nothing from Young India except for the shares that I bought," Sonia Gandhi's counsel told the court arguing that she has filed a correct tax return in the year 2011-12.Last week, Rahul Gandhi moved the court challenging a notice issued against him by the I-T Department seeking to re-open his tax assessment for the financial year 2011-12.Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia are major stakeholders of Young India.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the I-T department has told the court that the tax department has re-opened the tax assessment against Rahul Gandhi as he has suppressed information that he was a director of Young India.The bench has listed the matter for further hearing on August 16. Income Tax will counter the submission of the Congress leaders.Earlier in March, Young India requested the court to stay the recovery of tax and interest of Rs 249.15 crore raised in pursuance to a December 27, 2017 notice issued under section 156 of the IT Act for the assessment year 2011-12.The company has submitted that it is a charitable firm and does not have any income and that Income Tax authorities have wrongly raised a demand of Rs 249 crore for the assessment year 2011-12.On March 19, the Delhi High Court directed Young India to deposit Rs 10 crore in the Rs 249.15 crore income tax proceedings against the firm.Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy had filed a complaint of "cheating" in the acquisition of AJL.Swamy had accused them of allegedly conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying only Rs 50 lakh, by which Young India Pvt Ltd obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore which AJL owed to the Congress.The other accused in the case are Motilal Vora, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young India.