I-T Act changes may herald fresh trouble for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Young Indian, a company in which Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul hold majority stake, could be in fresh trouble over its takeover of the National Herald publication. The Budget has proposed an amendment in the Income Tax Act empowering officials to cancel registration of charitable trusts is the department is convinced that any income or property of the trust is applied for personal benefit of specified persons like author of trust, trustees etc.

The amendment proposed is in the Section 12AA of the I-T Act and will take effect from 1st October, 2014.

The existing provisions of section 12AA had limited jurisdiction where the registration could only be cancelled if the activities of a trust or institution are found not to be genuine, or the activities are not in accordance with the objects of the trust or institution.

The I-T department has already served notice on the Young Indian and the Associate Journals which earlier owned the National Herald and other publications of the trusts. The Associate Journals was taken over by another company called the Young Indian which was incorporated in 2010 and in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul held majority stake.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had filed a case against the Congress president and some others, alleging that they had used party funds to acquire the properties of National Herald.