Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Friday ratified the recent amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, as approved by the GST Council.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah moved the bill in the House for ratification. The Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2017, was subsequently taken up and passed through a voice vote.
BJP MLA Pawan Gupta sought to move amendments to the bill but was disallowed by Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, who clarified that no changes could be made at this stage.
“I am talking about reforms that the state can undertake. We are not challenging the Central Act,” Gupta said.
Responding to him, Chief Minister Abdullah noted that GST is a federal law and cannot be modified by the state assembly. “What I am placing before the House has already been approved by the GST Council. We are only ratifying it,” he said.
Speaker Rather reiterated that the bill could not be amended at this point and urged members to pass it without further delay. The bill was then ratified by a voice vote.
