GST - Empowered Committee needs a new Chairman
THE much delayed GST has suffered yet another setback with the resignation of the Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani.
The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers was originally set up on 17th July, 2000 by the Government of India with the State Finance Ministers of West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Meghalaya as members with an objective to monitor the implementation of uniform floor rates of sales tax by the States and Union Territories, to monitor the phasing out of the sales-tax based incentive schemes, to decide milestones and methods of the States to switch over to VAT and to monitor reforms in the Central Sales Tax system existing in the country. Subsequently, State Finance Ministers of Assam, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Rajasthan were also notified as the members of the Empowered Committee. On 12th August, 2004, the Government of India decided to reconstitute the Empowered Committee with all the State Finance/Taxation Ministers as its members.
Dr.Asim Dasgupta, Finance Minister of West Bengal was the Chairman of the new Empowered Committee from its inception till the year 2010-11. Sushil Modi, Finance Minister of Bihar took over in 2011 July. The Finance Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Abdul Rahim Rather took over in July 2013 as Sushil Modi had to resign consequent to his exit from the Bihar cabinet. After Rather lost his post in Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani took over in March 2015. Mani was the senior-most Finance Minister and legislator in India. He has been an MLA for the last 50 years without a break and he has presented more than 10 budgets. In fact, he is so identified with budgets that the Cochin University has a centre named after him - KM Mani Centre for Budget Studies. Please see DDT 2503 & 2566.
And now Mani has resigned his post as Finance Minister of Kerala and that means he loses the Chairmanship of the GST empowered committee. And we have to find a new Chairman to take GST forward.
State Finance Ministers may not come forward to head the Committee for fear of losing their original job.
KM Mani resigned after the Kerala High Court made some remarks in a case where it was alleged that he took a bribe of one crore rupees from the Kerala Bar Hotel Owners' Association.
The High Court observed,
I am reminded of the Shakespearian saying that 'Caesar's wife must be above suspicion'. The fundamental principle that justice is not only done but it should appear that it is done, is applicable not to the judiciary alone; whereas, it is equally applicable to the other two pillars of the State also. In a case like this, it is quite natural that the common man may entertain a feeling that there cannot be a proper investigation by a State Machinery when the accused, against whom fingers are pointed out, is continuing as a Minister. I have noted an instance wherein even the learned Advocate General had to be bypassed by the Director of Vigilance to obtain a legal opinion from outside. Of course, I am not finding fault with the Director of Vigilance on that score. I have gone through Ground K in the Original Petition, which says:-
"The opinion of the Advocate General of the State or any Law Officer under him was not attempted, since the accused is also the Law Minister of the State and the Director made an honest attempt to get the best opinion from other experts on the issue."
Whether the common man should pay for that also? I am not making any further comments on it, as this Court is not invited to answer such questions. I am leaving that question to the conscience of the accused.
The State had flown in Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal as its counsel.