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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on Thursday, said sending the proposed amendments on the land acquisition Bill to a joint committee of Parliament was the fastest way possible for the amendments to be legislated. He added that the government would keep all options open on the contentious Bill, including a joint session of both Houses of Parliament.
The government had conceded to opposition demands to send the land Bill to a 30-member joint committee on Tuesday. The committee is expected to give its report in the first week of the monsoon session of Parliament. “The road map that we have now developed of sending it to the joint committee is probably the fastest route to get the land Bill through. Now, if there are some good suggestions that come from the joint committee they are always welcome,” said Jaitley, in an interaction with reporters in the finance ministry.
“Having conducted various dialogues with the regional and other opposition parties, I think the joint committee will be the first route possible. In that sense, it is a productive session,” he said.
When asked if the government would be open to a joint session of Parliament to push the amendments through, Jaitley said no option was being ruled out.
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The interaction was also attended by Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das, and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian.
Apart from the land Bill, the government had also agreed to the opposition’s demand for sending the constitution amendment Bill to the Goods and Services Tax to a Rajya Sabha committee. The Bill was earlier passed by the Lok Sabha. “Even in the Lok Sabha, the principal opposition party wanted to send the Bill to a committee. That proposal would have been defeated since it requires a majority vote. Hence, as plan B, the principal opposition resorted to disrupting the proceedings,” Jaitley said.
“I would have been much happier if the Rajya Sabha also approved the (Constitution Amendment to) GST. In that sense, I would not have been cutting it to fine with regard to the April 1, 2016 deadline. I would only hope that the principal opposition party had realised the significance of this timeline at this moment.”
Jaitley added that he was confident that the select committee will give “overwhelming support” to GST and that the centre and the states will now have to work overtime to meet the deadline. “I remain very hopeful that the deadline for rollout will be met.”
Additionally, Revenue Secretary Das confirmed that the compliance window provision before the black money law comes into force will be in this financial year. “The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is working on the timeline for compliance window. They will be getting notified in a matter of 2-3 weeks," Das said.
The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Bill, 2015, which got the nod of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, two days after the Lok Sabha passed it, seeks to unearth unaccounted wealth stashed abroad.
On the apprehensions being expressed that the new black money law is tough and could create hardship for people, Jaitley said: "Those who don't have illegal money or assets abroad have nothing to worry. Amongst those who express very very serious apprehensions, there is a give-away in that."
