I-T slaps Rs 30 crore notice on AAP; party cries 'political vendetta'

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party was on Monday served a notice of Rs 30 crore by the Income Tax (I-T) department over the donations received by it, a move Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dubbed as "height of political vendetta".

A day after the party celebrated its fifth anniversary, the I-T department's crackdown came as a shocker to the party.

In a tweet, Kejriwal said, "In the history of India, ALL donations to a political party have been declared illegal. All these were accounted for and shown in books of accounts. This is height of political vendetta."

The notice cited that AAP had not disclosed income worth Rs 13.16 crore, adding that the party's total taxable income calculated by the department was Rs 68.44 crore for the financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16.

The notice stated the AAP had not recorded full details of at least 461 donors, who had donated Rs 6.26 crore, each donation amount exceeding Rs 20,000.

Sources in the Department said that the notice was sent to the party on November 23.

The first notice for an explanation was sent by on November 17, but the party had reportedly failed to reply.

However, dubbing the notice as "bogus and vindictive action", the AAP said the party's "revolution" was being targeted, using different government agencies, and claimed that it has maintained the record of every donation.

"The I-T department has announced the complete amount of the donations we received as illegal and has put it under the category of taxable income, although we have maintained the records of each paisa that we received from the donors," AAP national treasurer Deepak Bajpai said.

He explained that the party has been keeping and maintaining books of accounts and other documents (of contribution in excess of Rs 20,000) under Section 13 A of the Income Tax act.

"We have been submitting a report to the Election Commission (EC) about the donations received as per the law.

"The whole country knows how other parties finance themselves through black money, yet it is AAP which is being targeted using different agencies. This shows that the I-T notice is nothing but vindictive action," Bajpai said.

Meanwhile, the Opposition latched on to the issue to launch full-frontal attacks on AAP.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said, "Arvind Kejriwal formed Aam Aadmi Party claiming to be a party with transparent in financial matters. But right since its formation, AAP's financial issues have been under suspicion.

"And today's notice comes after a long personal hearing at I-T Department, so the party has no reason to claim innocence."

Echoing the same sentiments, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committe chief Ajay Maken said, "It is ironic that the Aam Aadmi Party, which professed to do different in politics when it was formed five years ago by being transparent in its fund collection, is facing this problem."