The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday clarified that it has not given any direction to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to issue a notice to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar over his poll affidavits.
The EC’s statement came a day after Pawar said the Income Tax department has served him a notice in connection with his poll affidavits submitted to the poll panel.
“... It is stated that Election Commission of India has not issued any such direction to CBDT to issue notice to Pawar,” the EC said in its statement.
While expressing solidarity with eight Rajya Sabha members suspended over chaos during a vote on controversial farm Bills, Pawar, 79, accused the Centre of pursuing an agenda against political opponents as he referred to tax notices.
“I got notice from the Income Tax Department in reference to the affidavit I submitted in 2020 and 2014 and 2009-10. They are asking for some information and clarification and similarly they have asked this to Supriya (Sule) also for the last three elections,” he said.