Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, Nov 15: Former Minister of State for Finance in the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed led PDP-BJP Government and MLA Udhampur, Pawan Gupta on Tuesday strongly criticized General Sales Tax amnesty in Jammu and Kashmir and described it as a premium to tax-evaders.
“Instead of making the tax evaders accountable for withholding the taxes already paid by consumers, the PDP-BJP Government has rewarded them by not only opening window of exit but also swindling huge sum of money that would have otherwise become due to the State”, Pawan Gupta said, adding that this is a huge scam which has been legalized by the supportive dispensation.
The MLA alleged that politico-administrative nexus was against the interests of the State and, therefore, he would be exploring legal options to make the defaulters pay through their nose. “Those at the helm in the State Government know the backdrop in which the SROs with regard to amnesty have been issued because there has been lot of pressure for allowing a waiver”, he maintained.
Pawan Gupta disclosed that overt and covert attempts were also made during his tenure as Minister of State Finance but he had stood between the beneficiaries and the decision makers. “Finally, the unscrupulous tax-evaders, who are deep rooted in the present Government, have succeeded in getting their nefarious proposal through”, the former Minister said.
Pawan Gupta said the rhetoric of the PDP-BJP dispensation about being custodians of the public interest is just a façade, as they are actually working for safeguarding the interests of unscrupulous elements who have virtually fleeced the State exchequer. “On the one hand this insensitive and anti-people Government is levying Service Tax on helicopter operations in the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine sector on the excuse of financial crunch and on the other hand unscrupulous elements are being rewarded by way of amnesty”, he added.
“The Government should forthwith rollback these SROs and take stringent action against the defaulters, who have flourished on the public money for over a decade”, MLA said and warned that in case of failure, he would be exercising his right to seek legal recourse as a conscious citizen and representative of the people.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel