Amid the euphoria of the landslide victory in Delhi elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received a shock on Wednesday when it got a show-cause notice from the Income Tax (I-T) Department asking it to explain the charges of receiving four donations from dubious sources as alleged by a splinter group of the party. AAP leaders confirmed receipt of the I-T notice and clarified that the party was ready to face any probe.
A similar notice has also been served on the Congress party. “Yes, we have been served a notice. It is clearly a sign of political vendetta. Why has a similar notice not been served on the BJPIJ Why single us and the AAP out. BJP has also spent crores of rupees on elections,” a Congress party spokesperson said. The I-T Department, which functions under the Central Board of Direct Taxes of the Finance Ministry, has asked the party to furnish its reply by February 16, two days after the party’s convenor Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to take oath as Delhi’s Chief Minister.
AAP spokesperson Atishi Marlena said the notice was sent to the party’s Patel Nagar office by the I-T Department. “We are ready for any probe by the Income-Tax Department or the Enforcement Directorate. We want this issue to be probed so that the allegations can be put to rest. But while welcoming the probe, we also want a Special Investigation Team to probe funding of all political parties and not just the AAP,” Marlena demanded.
The notice refers to the allegations made by a breakaway group, AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM), that AAP had received funding from dubious companies in March, 2014. The I-T notice says that the party had allegedly received four cheques from different companies on March 31 last year. According to an official of the I-T Department, the notice was issued to AAP on February 9, a day before counting. The I-T Department found that the four companies from which AAP had received donations were prima facie not “genuine”, and neither the company nor their directors were available at the given addresses. The I-T Department has also asked AAP to produce ‘book of documents or accounts’ before it.
The spokesperson made it clear that if the companies were dubious, then there should be an independent investigation to probe the companies as well. “We will respond to the notice as we have nothing to hide and there is no fault of ours. How does one verify the address of a company which does not existIJ We had received cheques. It is not the job of the party to verify the addresses since it does not issue cheque books, which are mostly delivered at residential or office address by banks,” said another party leader.