M. TRADE LINKS Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the present batch of writ petitions, challenge has been made to Ss. 16(2)(c) and 16(4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act and State Goods and Services Act, 2017. Background:

(2.) It took 13 long years, i.e., 2004-2017, for Goods and Services Tax to finally arrive in India, and a new tax regime could see the light of the day with effect from 1/7/2017. The Kelkar Committee used the word 'GST' for the first time in a formal document, i.e., the Executive Summary of the Kelkar Committee report. The Kelkar Committee proposed that the Union and the States should concurrently tax the consumption of almost all goods and services in the economy, and it should be based on the principles of Value Added Tax (for short 'the VAT'). All existing legislation taxing goods and services with cascading effects should be withdrawn. The GST would subsume existing indirect taxes including central excise and service tax.

(3.) The 13th Finance Commission also made recommendations on Central and State GST. The Commission on Central - State Relations 2010, headed by former Chief Justice of India, Madan Mohan Punchi J, broadly agreed with the suggestions and the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission. The Central-State relation Commission recommended the concurrent levy of dual GST by the Central and the States on a common tax base.