J&K assembly passes GST Bill amid protests by opposition, applicable from midnight today

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Friday passed Goods and Services Tax bill amid boycott by the opposition. GST law will be applicable from Friday's midnight. 

Opposition including National Conference, Congress, CPIM boycott assembly proceedings over the passing of GST Bill in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Earlier today, President Pranab Mukherjee gave nod to an order pertaining to implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime in Jammu and Kashmir, clearing decks for the state assembly for enacting a State GST law.

Official sources said that the President cleared the order and sent it to Ministry of Home Affairs for further action.

The PDP-BJP government had passed a resolution on Wednesday in the assembly after which the state cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti cleared a draft order for concurrence of the President.

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state which is yet to implement the GST which was rolled out in rest of the country on July 1.

The presidential order, which was concurred by state Governor N N Vohra, relates to the application of certain provisions of the Constitution of India through an order of the President issued under Article 370 that gives special status to the state.

State’s Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu had said yesterday that after the Presidential Order is received, the government will take it to the Assembly for enacting a SGST (state goods and services tax) bill.

Drabu, during the discussion in the Assembly on Wednesday, said that the government was not required to bring the resolution but it did so to “get a sense of the House on the issue”, a move termed by opposition National Conference and Congress as a “sham”.

This was the first time in the history of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly that a resolution, seeking a presidential order on a constitutional amendment, was discussed and passed.

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National Conference on Thursday said that party legislators will boycott the rest of the legislative session as a protest.

The National Conference issued a statement in this regard alleging that the protest against the government’s conspiracies to trample the aspirations of the people by demolishing the state’s special status.

On Wednesday, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah dubbed passing of resolution over GST implementation in the state as a sham and questioned there was absolutely no clarity on constitutional safeguards for the state.

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