Ordinance promulgated after schedule of Assembly session was announced to avoid conflict between Central and State laws, says State government

Opposition leader describes decision to get Kerala Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, promulgated as improper, against parliamentary decorum and past rulings in Assembly

The State government said on Monday that it was forced to take the ordinance route to amend a taxation law after the announcement of the schedule for the Assembly session so as to avoid conflict between Central and State laws.

Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan had described the government decision to get the Kerala Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, promulgated after the summons for the current Assembly session was sent to legislators as improper and against parliamentary decorum and past rulings in the State Assembly.

Mr. Satheesan also declined a request by Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal that the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) support the government in getting the bill replacing the ordinance passed in the current session. (The current session is set to end on Tuesday).

Mr. Satheesan said the government failed to explain the circumstances that necessitated the ordinance. Neither did the government introduce the bill replacing the ordinance, which was promulgated on September 27, during the current session, he said. This, he added, would require the government to repromulgate the ordinance once it lapses, setting an undesirable precedent.

Ministers for Law and Finance, P. Rajeeve and K.N. Balagopal respectively, said the ordinance was promulgated so as to avoid conflict between the Central Goods and Services Tax Act and the State Act. Certain penal provisions in the amended Central Act were turning effective on October 1, requiring the State government to make corresponding changes to the State-level Act.

The Governor promulgated the Kerala Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, for amending the Kerala Finance Act, 2008, the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and the Kerala Finance Act, 2024, on September 27.

Not doing so would have resulted in an extraordinary situation where certain actions would be a crime under the amended Central Act from October 1, and not so under the State Act, Mr. Rajeeve said. (It specifically dealt with Section 122A on the penalty for failure to register certain machines used in manufacture of goods as per special procedure.)

According to the government, it was necessary that the changes in the State Act also came into effect from October 1. However, the Assembly session was scheduled to begin only on October 4. Besides, even if the bill was presented in the House and passed in the current session, the amendments would still come into effect only by mid-October. The government took the ordinance route to avoid this delay, they said.

Speaker A.N. Shamseer ruled that the government action was not in violation of the Constitution or Assembly rules. But he added that the Minister and the administrative department concerned should, in future, make sure to take steps to pass bills replacing ordinances in the Assembly session that follows. He added that the government could introduce the bill in the current session if the Opposition approved such a step. But Mr. Satheesan declined Mr. Balagopal’s request in this regard.

Published - October 14, 2024 08:18 pm IST