SC judgement on GST council and some random thoughts

Mr.N.Venkatraman,Additional Solicitor General,GOI, has clearly brought the key aspects of this landmark judgment delivered by SC. The confusion stemmed from the attention-grabbing headlines made by media, stating GST Council recommendations are non-binding on Centre and States and have only persuasive value at the most.

The nuanced reading of this Judgment with its emphasis on cooperative federalism has not been clearly understood by opposition-ruled states like TN. Politicians ruling in the States rarely understand that Cooperative Federalism is a multiway street.CF not only means harmony in the Centre-State relationship, but also means InterState harmony ( not at all seen even between contiguous States like TN,Kerala, Karnataka,AP)and finally also means Intra-state harmony. When they keep harping on the point that States are not consulted by the Centre with respect to Indirect Taxation, they forget to what extent they do consult the Stakeholders like Industry and citizens before bringing in Changes in taxation within their realm say Property Tax,local Bodies Tax etc. within their States.

States lecture about Cooperative Federalism to the Centre only when it is convenient for them on issues that impinge on their rights and ignore when it comes to bilateral or multilateral issues and shift the blame to the Centre. The concepts of 'give and take" and coordinated and synchronized functioning with right balancing of their interests, are a must for a healthy and robust relationship between the various organs of the Union of India which is akin to functioning of a Human body.

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