GST Bill moved in LS amid Oppn protest

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 24

In what is the biggest tax reform since Independence, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill that will allow seamless transfer of goods within the country and ensure a uniform tax regime, was moved for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha today.

A collective Opposition demanded that the Bill, which had as many as 10 changes over the one tabled in 2011, should be referred to a standing committee.

The GST subsumes various Central indirect taxes, including the Central excise duty, countervailing duty, service tax, etc. It also subsumes state value-added tax, octroi and entry tax, luxury tax, among others.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan over-ruled the protests by the Opposition and allowed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to initiate a discussion. The Bill will be debated next week. A war of words broke out between the Opposition and the ruling combine before Mahajan gave her ruling.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it was a “win-win” measure and the states had nothing to fear. However, Congress members led by Sonia Gandhi and those of the TMC, the Left, AAP and the NCP staged a walkout after their pleas for referring the Constitution Amendment Bill to the Standing Committee was not accepted by the Speaker. The Opposition alleged that the government was ‘bulldozing’ and bringing the Bill in a ‘hush hush’ manner.

The AIADMK and the BJD also opposed its consideration and repeatedly raised objections saying the states will lose revenue. The two parties did not walk out but this indicates a tough time for the government in the Rajya Sabha as AIADMK’s M Thambidurai, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, countered the finance minister saying, "Tamil Nadu will lose 16,000 crore".

The government will need the support of the AIADMK in the Rajya Sabha where it is short on numbers. Jaitley said the GST can lead to 2 per cent increase in the GDP. He praised the previous UPA regime for working on the Bill.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi slammed the government for bringing the GST Bill in haste by bypassing all procedures of parliamentary democracy, including the Bill's reference to a parliamentary Standing Committee. "This is the highest form of subterfuge. The BJP, when in the opposition, stalled the Bill conceived and piloted by the UPA government. The Gujarat Government under the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi was among the states that principally opposed the Bill. And now they want to pass the Bill in haste by not even agreeing to refer it to a standing committee. This is duplicitous and hypocritical. We support the idea of GST but not the manner in which the government is pushing it", he said.

The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution to introduce a national level GST. The issue has been festering since 2003 with opinions and counter opinions being forwarded. Being a Constitution amendment, it will have to be passed with a 2/3rd majority in both the Houses of Parliament. Once passed by Parliament, it will have to be passed by at least half the number of states.