New Delhi: July 11, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief, Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, stated that, the central government included GST under the purview of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which would be misused resulting in innocents being ending up behind the bars though they are honest tax paying citizen.
“A couple of days ago, the central government also included GST in ED. This means that if a trader does not pay GST, the ED shall arrest the person directly and bail will not be granted,” he alleged.
The GST system is so complex that even those who are paying full GST can be caught in some provision and put in jail. It means, the central government can send any businessperson to jail whenever it wants,” his tweet read.
Kejriwal further stated that it was extremely dangerous as instead of conducting business, traders would be focused on protecting themselves from the ED. He said even small-scale traders in the country will fall into this trap and no trader will be spared.
“This is very dangerous for the country’s economy. Today there is a meeting of the GST Council. I hope that everyone will speak out against this move, and the central government should withdraw it immediately,” he tweeted.
The Centre has brought the GST Network (GSTN) under the purview of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to plug tax evasion through fake billing,
This will give more power to the ED, and allow the ED to share information with the GSTN.
