Stating that the recently-introduced country-wide Goods and Services Tax (GST) system is mired in controversies and creates confusion among traders, the All India Association of Tax lawyers and The Berhampur Tax Bar Association filed a PIl in the Orissa High Court on Tuesday seeking a rollback of the tax law that was introduced in July this year. Sources said the High Court has not yet taken note of the PIl.
The petition challenges the levy of Central GST (CGST) and the State GST (SGST) on the grounds that the levy is “invalid” and “unconstitutional” as it violates the Federalism feature of the Constitution, particularly the financial federalism. The petition further said the levy of CGST encroaches upon the financial autonomy of the States.
Filed on behalf of the secretaries of both the associations, the petition challenges the GST, saying it seriously affects the fundamental right of a citizen to carry on business or trade as per Article 19 (1) (g) and also violates Article 21 of the Constitution to earn his livelihood because a registered buyer is prohibited from procuring goods from an unregistered trader.
The petition also points out that the new tax regime is causing extreme hardship and agony to the taxpayers as well as to the consultants as the tax law was introduced in haste without any prior preparations and is full of glitches resulting in pandemonium and chaos among the traders.
The petitioners have urged the High Court for a direction to all the respondents for an immediate rollback of the GST on the ground that the tax law is arbitrary and unfeasible for the small traders and business houses. Apart from the finance and law departments of Centre and State, at least four other departments including the GST Council and the GST Network have been made respondents in the petition.