LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Wednesday, August 2, 2017/Shravana 11, 1939 (Saka) ______ SUBMISSION BY MEMBER Re: Political vendetta unleashed by the Government through central investigation agencies against the Opposition party leaders particularly in Karnataka THE MINISTR OF FINANCE, MINISTER OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF DEFENCE (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY) responding to the issue raised by an hon. Member, said: The matter raised by the hon. Member is serious, however, the facts told to him are perhaps not sufficient and substantive. The Tax Department has not carried out any search on any resort or against any MLA from Gujarat. However, income tax search has been carried out against a Minister of the Karnataka Government and his partners. Besides, a search is going on at 39 other places. Whenever a search is carried out and recoveries are made, the concerned person is confronted so as to take his statement. However, in this case, the person against whom search was being carried out, was hiding in a resort. As such, in order to take his statement and get him to his residence, income tax officer went to the resort. When they reached over there, that person was tearing some papers. The torn papers and the documents which were being torn have been recovered in the 'panchnama'. He was taken to his home from there. At present, there is no income tax officer over there and this raid is going on at 39 other places. This should not be linked with any election in Gujarat, this should be linked only with economic offence. *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 1. SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK laid a statement regarding need to ensure the share of farmers in the profits on final food products. 2. SHRI BIRENDRA KUMAR CHOUDHARY laid a statement regarding need to review the defence preparedness of our armed forces in view of the border standoff with China at Doklam and also utilize diplomatic channels on the issue. 3. SHRI HARISH MEENA laid a statement regarding need to provide basic civic amenities in Rajaurgarh Gram Panchayat in Dausa Parliamentary Constituency, Rajasthan. 4. SHRI OM BIRLA laid a statement regarding making available loans to farmers at concessional rate. * Laid on the Table as directed by the Chair. 5. SHRI SUBHASH CHANDRA BAHERIA laid a statement regarding need to obtain consent of customers before conversion of Jan-Dhan bank accounts into saving account. 6. SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT laid a statement regarding need to accord approval to the Kumbha Ram Lift Canal Project in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. 7. SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS laid a statement regarding need to start Lanco Vidarbha Thermal Power Station in Wardha Parliamentary Constituency, Maharashtra. 8. SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY laid a statement regarding need to include construction and renovation of small water bodies for irrigation purposes under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana. 9. SHRI MANSHUKHBHAI DHANJIBHAI VASAVA laid a statement regarding need to repair and reconstruct the stretch of National Highway No. 753B in Bharuch Parliamentary Constituency, Gujarat. 10. SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY laid a statement regarding need to expedite completion of pending railway projects in Jharkhand. 11. SHRIMATI ANJU BALA laid a statement regarding need for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. 12. SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM laid a statement regarding need to expedite Kanhar Barrage Project in Garhwa district of Jharkhand. 13. SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH laid a statement regarding renovation of historical temples and tourist places in Gaya and Aurangabad district of Bihar. 14. SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL laid a statement regarding need to reduce the minimum age-limit for physically challenged persons to avail the benefits under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. 15. SHRI HUKMDEO NARAYAN YADAV laid a statement regarding need to confer Bharat Ratna Award on Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Karpoori Thakur. 16. SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA laid a statement regarding need to establish a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Banda district, Uttar Pradesh. 17. DR. SHASHI THAROOR laid a statement regarding outbreak of vector-borne disease in Kerala. 18. SHRI B. N. CHANDRAPPA laid a statement regarding need to provide financial assistance to Karnataka affected by drought. 19. SHRIMATI K. MARAGATHAM laid a statement regarding need to withdraw GST imposed on textile products. 20. SHRI P. R. SUNDARAM laid a statement regarding need to protect the interests of domestic poultry industry. 21. DR. RATNA DE (NAG) laid a statement regarding making river Ganga pollution-free. 22. PROF. SAUGATA ROY laid a statement regarding reported changes recommended in school textbooks. 23. SHRI ARVIND SAWANT laid a statement regarding assessment of demonetized notes following demonetization. 24. SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA laid a statement regarding need to provide telephone/digital connectivity in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. 25. SHRI P. KARUNAKARAN laid a statement regarding need to achieve the objectives of demonetization of bank notes. 26. SHRI RADHESHYAM BISWAS laid a statement regarding flood situation in Assam. 27. SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN laid a statement regarding deep-sea fishing by foreign vessels owned by Indian Companies. STATUTORY RESOLUTIONS Re: Disapproval of Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 (Ordinance No. 3 of 2017) CENTRAL GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (EXTENSION TO JAMMU AND KASHMIR) BILL, 2017 Disapproval of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 (Ordinance No. 4 of 2017) And INTEGRATED GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (EXTENSION TO JAMMU AND KASHMIR) BILL, 2017 SHRI ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY moved that this House disapproves of the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir), Ordinance, 2017 (Ordinance No. 3 of 2017) promulgated by the President on 8th July, 2017. And Also moved that this House disapproves of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir), Ordinance 2017 (Ordinance No. 4 of 2017) promulgated by the President on 8th July, 2017. THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, MINISTER OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF DEFENCE (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY) moving the motion for consideration of the Bills, said: The Goods and Services Tax was introduced by a legislative process by which we first amended the Constitution of India. But then because of the provisions of Article 370, the Constitution Amendment was applicable to the whole country except to the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Therefore, Jammu & Kashmir, under their Constitution, had to separately undergo a legislative process. Jammu & Kashmir went through that legislative process and finally passed a Resolution in their State Assembly and then brought in a relevant legislation by virtue of which they passed their own State GST Act. However, corresponding changes had to be made in the Central GST Act and the Integrated GST Act. Wherever we have mentioned inapplicability to the State of Jammu & Kashmir, that is being deleted because now the CGST Act will also apply to the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Similarly, in the IGST Act, similar corresponding changes have been made which are necessary upon the integration of the State GST into the Central GST so that they can become a part of the IGST chain itself. These are formal amendments which are required to the CGST Act and SGST Act recognizing the fact that the State of Jammu & Kashmir is integrated and therefore, in pursuant to that integration, the exemption that we have carved out for the State is intended to be taken away. It is a very fortunate development because it brings about the economic integration of the whole country. It is in larger interest because of one reason, if they did not integrate with the national GST, then for goods sold in the State which are manufactured outside the State, they would not get the benefit of input credit. That would mean that at the interim stage, some taxes have been paid on which they would not get credit and on the final product they will be paying their entire tax for a second time. Inherently, that would have made every product in the State of Jammu & Kashmir costlier. The consumers would have had to pay more. Similarly, the traders would have felt that their trade will shrink because people would have preferred to buy outside the State rather than within the State because the products outside the State would have become cheaper itself. The State itself benefits because this will also impact on the revenue of the State itself. Therefore, in every sense, the people, the Government, the Assembly needs to be complemented for having taken this decision for having integrated, in the larger interest of its people, the GST into the national process itself. SHRI ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY: Of course, there is provision in our Constitution that under Article 123 the Government may resort to Ordinance route. But when we are having access to Parliament, we should not frequently resort to Ordinance route. Here lies the problem. The Government has failed to impress upon the State Government of Jammu & Kashmir to get incorporated in the national tax regime which started rolling out from 1st July. The fact remains that nearly 50 per cent of our GDP still remains out of the ambit of the GST. Given the sensitivity of the Jammu & Kashmir region, I think the Government should have better prepared before introducing this tax regime. There is an apprehension in the minds of the people of Kashmir Valley that whether GST and SGST will harm the special status provided to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. So, the Government should clear its position in this regard. In India, Jammu and Kashmir is the only State where both service tax and goods tax can be levied by the State Government itself.