Congress Says Not Happy With Outcome of GST Council Meeting, Decisions Thrust Upon Them

“I appeal to the Centre that if some states are not agreeable to their proposals, they should not force the solutions on states. The Centre should activate the dispute resolution mechanism in the GST Council, so that states have legal recourse to what they do not agree upon,” he said at a virtual press conference.

Badal said the meeting did not take place in a very cordial atmosphere as there is a trust deficit. “We saw a trust deficit. The meeting did not progress in a very cordial atmosphere. The Attorney General’s comments were read out to communicate that the Centre had no legal commitment in the matter. We wonder why the AG’s views were not circulated to us,” he said.

Chhattisgarh Finance Minister TS Singh Deo said there is a sad state of affairs in the GST Council as it is increasingly yielding to majoritarianism instead of being consensual. He said earlier any dissenting voice was being heard and redressed, but no longer.

Narayanasamy said there is a serious flaw in the GST Act as producing states are losing and consuming states are at an advantage under the present GST regime and that the central government should look into it.