Under fire from JD(U) for allegedly causing revenue loss by lowering VAT on certain goods six years ago, former deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi sought to avoid blame saying the loss had taken place due to defective notification and demanded a CBI probe in the matter.
“The revenue loss had indeed taken place due to issuance of a ‘defective’ notification by the state government on September 13, 2007 reducing the VAT rate by four per cent on certain goods for which the then Advocate General, P K Shahi, should be held squarely responsible for failure to detect mistakes in the notification during vetting,” Modi told reporters.
Alleging that the JD(U) Government was trying to frame him in the matter for clearing proposals for reduction of VAT and ordering a probe by five Ministers with an alleged mandate to frame him, Modi said if he was responsible for causing loss of revenue, then so was the then AG, presently the Education Minister, and the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself, as the final decision was taken by the Cabinet on September 11, 2007.