Leave aside ‘majoritarianism’, take decisions at GST council by consensus: State to Centre
The two-day GST Council’s 47th meeting is underway in Chandigarh
KOLKATA: Amit Mitra, Principal Chief Adviser to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Finance Department, on Tuesday, wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging her to arrive at a consensus before taking any decisions at the ongoing GST Council meeting and leave aside any shade of “majoritarianism”.
In a two-page letter to Sitharaman, Mitra cited a recent judgment of the Supreme Court in this regard. “Post decision of the SC, it has become imperative for the GST council to take every decision by consensus and to leave aside any shade of majoritarianism, not only for the future credibility of GST council but also to uphold the rich tradition of this august body,” Mitra wrote.
The apex court on May 19 ruled that GST council’s recommendations are not binding on the Union and states but have a persuasive value as the country has a cooperative federal structure.
The apex court observed that recommendations of the GST council are the product of a collaborative dialogue involving the Union and states and they are recommendatory in nature.
Mitra in his letter reiterated that erstwhile chairperson of the GST Council, Arun Jaitley and other distinguished members have always upheld the importance to
reach a consensus.
“On the backdrop of this extremely significant observation of the honourable apex court, it has become extremely important for the GST council to invariably arrive at a consensus for taking any
decision,” Mitra wrote.
The two-day GST Council’s 47th meeting is underway in Chandigarh to take a call on several key recommendations by ministerial committees aimed at making the tax system more efficient.