Criticizing the Central government's decision to exempt political parties from income tax on old notes deposited by them in banks, former JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar saying that a PIL will be filed in this regard in Supreme Court.
An online petition has been circulated for signatures of people opposing the government decision and soon a PIL will be filed at Supreme Court after due consultation with lawyers, Kanhaiya said.
"We are contacting lawyers and we are going to file a PIL for revoking the exemption from IT scrutiny to political parties for deposits in old notes in the face of demonetization. We have already started taking signatures on an online petition regarding this," he said.
The Central government yesterday said political parties depositing old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in their accounts will be exempt from income tax. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that deposits in bank accounts of political parties are not to be taxed. "If it is a deposit in the account of a political party, they are exempt. But if it is deposited in an individual's account then that information will come into our radar. If the individual is putting money in his own account, then we will get information," he said.
The online petition addressed to the Chief Justice of India opposed this move as "patently unfair" to the citizenry of the country. "Given the extraordinary nature of this measure (demonetization) which has affected every citizen and business's financial autonomy and brought their records under scrutiny; the exemption granted to political parties from any scrutiny from income tax authorities whatsoever in this regard, seems patently unfair to the citizenry," the petition read.
(With inputs from PTI)
