Kerala Minister hails SC's 'GST Council' verdict; 'Upholds federal rights'

Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal welcomed the Supreme Court decision upholding the rights of the states in the GST council saying the recommendations of the Centre are not binding on states. It's important to note, that the top court upheld a Gujarat HC order to quash IGST levied based on a 2017 notification of the Union government. 

Welcoming the SC judgement, KN Balagopal said that the order maintains the federal rights of the states and the people. In its order, the SC ruled the decisions of the GST council recommendations cannot be a mandate for the states and the Centre but they can prove to be of a convincing value given the cooperative federal structure. A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath also held that while the states and the Centre have equal rights to legislate on the GST, the council should create a synergy between the states and the Union government to come up with a viable solution. 

Kerala FM hails SC verdict 

A critique of the GST structure, Balagopal said in a Twitter thread that the apex court's ruling on "powers of GST Council on taxation and state government's rights is a landmark one." Adding further Balagopal said that while he hasn't read the full verdict yet, "it is clear from the reports that it is a verdict that upholds the federal rights of States and the people". The Kerala Finance Minister went on to say his party CPI(M) has always maintained a sceptical position on GST's taxation structure. 

Recalling his days as a member of the Rajya Sabha, Balagopal said that working as a member of the select committee of the Upper House that studied the GST bill, he was always of the opinion, that "GST is an attack on federalism," and always stood firm on the view that there should be no taxation without representation."  

Supreme Court order 

The Supreme Court, referring to Article 246A, held that states and the Union government are on par when it comes to legislating on the matters of taxation. "Article 246A treats the Union government and states as equal and Article 279 of the Constitution says that Centre and State cannot act independently of each other," it said.

(Image: ANI)