West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her concern over the implementation of GST with flaws in its rules. She says that The mockery of Inspector Raj is back and that the country’s democracy and freedom is in danger.
Banerjee specially pointing out the arrest clause in the GST rules said that this clause will harass the small and mediocre businessmen. As per the clause the police now have the authority to arrest anyone on the basis of 4 different offence, resulting in a sentence of 1 to 5 years of imprisonment. These arrests are also non bailable, making it the main reason of Mamata’s opposition. The earlier rules of the tax regime did not allow a direct arrest by the police. If any tax offence was observed the police had to follow the complete procedure of filling a FIR and follow the process according to the law, for taking any action against the accused.
Mamata Banerjee even alleged the BJP led NDA government of hiding behind the disguise of GST and diverting the attention from other failures of the government. She said that the government targets anyone who even dares to go against the decision made by it. She further added that, “I am deeply concerned that the arrest clause in GST may well be used to target business leaders who raise their voice of dissent on any policy matter or any practices.”