PTI, NEW DELHI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi on Monday failed to get any relief from the Delhi High Court which dismissed their challenge on reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12.

The rejection of the pleas of the top Congress leaders, including Oscar Fernandes, will pave the way for the Income Tax Department to scrutinise their records for the assessment year 2011-12.

The "writ petitions have to fail," a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla said while clarifying that the observations in the order with regard to the contentions of the Congress leaders are not conclusive and are recorded for the purpose of disposing of these petitions.

"...The assessees' rights to urge them are reserved in the income tax proceedings," it said, while "dismissing" the three separate petitions which were decided through a common order.

The income tax probe against the Congress leaders has arisen from the investigation into the private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before a trial court in connection with the National Herald case.