State to form panel for consensus on GST

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 15

Amid controversy surrounding the goods and service tax (GST) in J&K, the state government has decided to constitute a panel of experts to build consensus on its implementation, which is likely to get delayed beyond the scheduled date of July 1.

After criticism from the Opposition and even some leaders of the ruling PDP, official sources said the PDP-BJP government had decided to constitute a panel comprising members from all political parties along with constitutional and economic experts.

“The expert panel is aimed at building a consensus before implementing the GST in the state,” an official in the General Administration Department, which is likely to issue an order on Friday, told The Tribune. The panel has to submit its report to the government within two weeks, he said.

The constitution of the panel has put shadows on the special session of the Legislative Assembly on the GST, commencing from June 17 to 21.

A senior PDP minister said, “We are just holding the obituary session on June 17 and the rest of the session will be deferred till the expert panel submits its report.” He said the implementation of the GST would get delayed beyond July 1, when the Centre government was planning to roll the GST across the country.

“Before implementing the GST, we want our people, particularly business community, to get satisfied with what we are going to do. We want broader discussions on the GST before implementing it,” he said.

The ruling PDP-BJP government wanted to extend the 101 Amendment of the Indian Constitution to J&K by virtue of which the GST came into effect.

However, it faced resistance from the opposition political parties, saying it would erode the fiscal and political autonomy of J&K, which is shielded from the Central laws by its special constitutional status within the Indian union.

J&K draws its power to levy taxes from Section 5 of its constitution while other states draw their power to tax from Article 246 of the Indian Constitution.The opposition parties have been accusing the government of making haste on the GST implementation and demanded the postponement of the GST session.

The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Legislative Assembly, which is meeting on June 17 at 10 am, an hour before the commencement of the GST session, has been entrusted to decide the calendar of the session.