GST may see another roadblock over SC verdict on Arunachal Pradesh

The Narendra Modi government’s push for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill could see another roadblock in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament with the Congress getting set to attack the Centre on the Supreme Court verdict to restore the ousted Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh.

The apex court on Wednesday directed the restoration of ousted chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Tuki as it quashed the decision of Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa advancing the assembly session in December 2015.

The monsoon session of parliament will begin on July 18.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said that the government will have to answer every question pertaining to the political crisis in Arunchal Pradesh in the Parliament.

Sibal said this in reply to the question whether the issue of political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh will be raised in the coming monsoon session.

Read: Parliament to polls: How SC’s Arunachal verdict will shake up politics

The winter session of parliament saw a tussle between the opposition and the government on the GST, which continued till the last budget session. The GST bill has not been passed yet.

Ahead of the monsoon session, the government has reached out to the Congress for passage of the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday spoke to Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and deputy leader of the Congress in the House Anand Sharma and also invited them for a meeting on GST.

Earlier, new Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar had a telephonic conversation with Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma.

The GST, considered as one of the most significant tax reforms, is being stalled in the Rajya Sabha because of stiff opposition by the Congress.

Congress has been keen on capping GST rate at 18 percent, deletion of the provision which allows imposition of one percent tax by additional levy and an independent dispute resolution mechanism.

Meanwhile, the government is also banking on the changing party arithmetic in the Rajya Sabha to enact the law.

Earlier in June, after a meeting of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST in Kolkata, Arun Jaitley announced that every state had either supported or accepted the proposed GST, except Tamil Nadu, which expressed its reservations and offered suggestions.