State Government will be implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) — an issue on which there was much controversy and hesitation for a long time. Cool consideration of the subject convinced the Government that the State must not lag behind other States that have agreed to implement it.
The GST is proposed to be a comprehensive indirect tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods as well as services at the national level. It will replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Central and State Governments. The obstruction which the State Government felt was whether it would be in line with the constitutional provisions because of special status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir as provided by the Constitution of India. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had strongly recommended all States to implement it so as to bring about uniform tax regime in the country.
However, mindful of the special status enjoyed by our State, the Government adopted a safe course that would ensure that no legal flaw has happened while implementing the Act of the Parliament. The State Government has constituted a high power committee headed by Principal Secretary, Planning Development and Monitoring Department, B.B Vyas to draft the legislation for implementation of GST in the State. The committee has been asked to ensure that constitutional privileges of the State of J&K remain intact and the draft legislation is compatible with the constitutional rights enjoyed by the State. The Committee has been authorised to requisition consultative services of Advocate General since legalities have to be taken care of. The committee has been given three months to send in its draft legislation.
The process adopted by the Government for introducing the bill is foolproof. After receiving the draft, the Cabinet will discuss it fully and if it is passed, it will go to the Legislative Assembly for approval and with its approval and nod by the Governor, a law gets enacted.
It is to be noted that the Government may propose some amendments to the draft that will be prepared by the drafting committee. In all probability the committee may study the amendments which the other States have made to the GST Act and whether it could also suggest similar changes.
However, a temporary delaying factor is likely to shape while processing the case. The Legislative Assembly will be meeting for the budget session in January 2017 while the drafting committee has time till March 2017 to submit its report. It means that even if the Cabinet gives its nod to the draft, still it will not be possible to place the bill on the table of the house. Obviously, the bill will have to be tabled in the session following the budget session.
The matter is sensitive in a sense and should not be made a victim of unreasoned haste. Let the Government take its time for submitting the bill and not make hurry to push it through the budget session. The State Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu has expressed confidence that the drafting will take care of the constitutional privileges which the State enjoys. The common sense is that an Act which all other States have accepted and implemented should also be useful and helpful to the people in our State. Uniformity of taxation all over the country would be ultimately helpful and we in the State would not want to lag behind.
In final analysis, it is a healthy sign if the Government is convinced that GST would be useful and in the interests of the people of the State. We certainly find meaning in the concerns of the Government that before tabling the bill in the legislature, the Government should make sure that all constitutional provisions giving special status to the State of J&K remain intact.
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