Will move court for due share in central taxes revenue: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that the Delhi government would move court for its "due share" in the central taxes revenue and then split the funds it gets with cash-strapped MCDs.

The chief minister said that Delhi residents pay Rs 1.5 lakh crore income tax which is the "highest" among other states in the country, but when it comes to fund sharing, Delhi does not get anything.

"Delhi's people pay Rs 1.5 lakh crore in income tax. But, when it comes to the Centre's new Finance Commission, Delhi's name is not in the list of states," Kejriwal said.

"Delhi is neither a Union territory nor a state when it comes to getting funds from the central government," he alleged.

Kejriwal said the Centre had constituted a finance commission for the devolution of taxes among the states.

"The list that the central government has given to the central finance commission for the distribution of taxes among the states, does not feature the name of Delhi," he said.

Participating in a discussion on "hardships" being faced by sanitation workers due to non-regularisation of their services in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal said that for releasing funds, Delhi was neither being treated as a state nor as a Union territory.

"If it was a UT, then the Centre should give the entire Budget (Rs 52,000 crore in 2018-2019), otherwise, Delhi should be included in the list of states," he said.

"We will go to the Supreme Court," the chief minister said.

He said that if the government receives additional funds from central taxes revenue, it would share half of the funds with the cash-strapped BJP-led municipal corporation.