Taking on the recent spate of “repeated, constant and instant” outbursts against the Centre from some States on fiscal issues, top government officials said on Wednesday that the criticism of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime’s functioning based on a Supreme Court verdict last week was as ill-informed as the critique of fuel tax cuts announced last Saturday.
“It is quite clear where the shameless hypocrisy lies. Even before the Supreme Court judgment in a GST matter, where it [the apex court] simply reiterated the existing system, was uploaded for public view, they were holding press conferences stating the court has upheld their fiscal rights,” an official said, hinting at States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu that reacted soon after news broke of an apex court decision scrapping a GST levy on freight services for imports.
Similarly, while Opposition States like Tamil Nadu criticised the Centre’s plea for them to cut local levies on petroleum products to ease inflation for the common man, the Centre had only ‘exhorted them’ to consider it, not imposed the move as was being implied, the official explained.
