'Filed returns 45 days late': Ajay Maken on why Congress accounts have been frozen

Congress on Friday, February 16, claimed that four of their main accounts were frozen by the Income Tax department. Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said that the party's account has been frozen on 'flimsy grounds'. Maken also said that the Income Tax Department has asked for a recovery amount of ₹210 crore.

Maken said that Congress had filed its Income Tax return for 2018-19 late and that is one of the reasons behind the action against them.

He said, "we had to submit our account by December 31, 2019, and there was a delay of 40-45 days in the submission. We all make such delays by mistake, many people file their returns late and they've done this on that basis."

Ajay Maken also talked about the second reason and said, "2018-19 was the year of election and the Congress recieved a total of ₹199 crore which were spent on the elections. From that, only ₹14,40,000 was given in cash by our Congress MPs and MLAs. They submitted their one-month salary in cash. And just because we submitted ₹14,40,000 in cash, we now have a penalty of ₹210 crore."

Also watch: How will 'freezing' of accounts impact Congress? Here's what Ajay Maken said