Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

The AAP was accused by the Election Commission for not providing the right figures while they disclosed their party funding. Today, the EC issued a show- cause notice seeking and demanding for a justification. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has demanded the concealment of donations which the party hasn’t publicly acknowledged. The party has reportedly been served 34 notices to explain its funds from overseas. The latest notice pegs the AAP’s taxable income at Rs 68.44 crore and asked the party to explain before December 7 why it should not be made to pay Rs 30.67 crore as tax.

The notice also says: “The names and addresses of the donors contributing Rs 13.16 crore were not disclosed… The full details of names and addresses of 461 donors (each donation exceeding Rs 20,000) have not been submitted to the Election Commission. The Commission has also sought a response from the party within the next 20 days. If the party fails to provide the appropriate information it can be booked under Para 16Aof the Election Symbol (Reservation & Allotment) Order 1968 for failing to follow lawful directions.

“The AAP party had taken hawala entries of Rs 2 crore during the financial year 2014-15 from a hawala entry operator of Delhi and the same was incorrectly disclosed as voluntary donations,” said the IT department of the Commission.

In defence of AAP, the party’s treasurer stated that: “All our donations have been declared taxable income and the department has demanded tax on that. The AAP has made all political donations transparent in its attempts to bring Indian politics out of the muddle of black money. The party’s honest politics is being appreciated the world over. But the government is trying to harass us.”

The allegation was initially raised by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to the EC which was then taken up by the EC with a higher capacity to question the party. The report stated that

“The bank account of the AAP has recorded total credits of Rs.67.67 crore, including ₹64.44 crore from donations in excess of ₹.20,0001. However, the party has disclosed total income of ₹.54.15 crore from donations in its audited accounts for this year.”

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