CPM to challenge Income Tax Department's seizure of Rs 1 crore in High Court

THRISSUR: CPM has decided to take legal action against the Income Tax Department's seizure of Rs. one crore. The move is to approach the High Court, highlighting that wrongly linking the PAN number is a serious lapse on the part of the bank, leading to the account being erroneously flagged as unauthorized. The district leadership has sought permission from the state leadership in this regard. M.M. Varghese, the District Secretary of the Bank of India, had sent a letter pointing out the mistake in the PAN number. It is also noted that the Bank of India provided a letter to the party on the 18th, acknowledging the error, which will be presented as evidence.

It is explained that after the election was announced, one crore rupees were withdrawn on April 2 for the expenses of the district committee. However, Income Tax officials, who inspected the bank on April 5, misconstrued the withdrawal as a wrongful act. All these details will be highlighted in court. Additionally, it will be argued that the temporary freeze on transactions during elections and the suggestion to refrain from transactions without permission are politically motivated.

Another contention of the party is that Income Tax officials lack the authority to halt legitimate bank transactions and should not enforce illegally issued orders. The party clarified that after withdrawing the money, it kept it in the office without spending it to avoid unnecessary media attention during the elections. The Thrissur Bank of India account is three decades old.

The withdrawn Rs 1 crore was returned to the bank for repayment on Tuesday evening. At that time, Income Tax officials arrived and seized the amount. A detailed statement regarding the source of the money was obtained from the party leadership. It is stated that special permission from the Income Tax Department was required to deposit the money into the frozen account. After completing the necessary technical procedures and depositing the money into the account, the district secretary was released late at night.