Golden Temple GST refund row: Amarinder dubs Harsimrat a compulsive liar

Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh called Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal a compulsive liar on Sunday, in response to her statement that the state government has reneged from its promise to pay its share for GST for langar of Golden Temple.

The CM said the state government had not only notified 100% GST refund for Punjab’s share in respect of Darbar Sahib, Durgiana Mandir, and Ram Tirath, but also allocated ₹4 crore to the Amritsar deputy commissioner for the same in May this year.

The CM reiterated his government’s commitment to refunding the state’s share of the GST not just for the current year but with retrospective effect from August 2017 for all the three shrines. He said₹4 crore was allotted to the DC by the revenue department after the requisite budgetary approvals were taken from the Vidhan Sabha in the Budget Session and the finance department had relaxed its guidelines of quarterly releases.

He said following the creation of a new budget head on this count, the process to generate the new DDO (drawing and disbursing officer) code had already been taken up with the accountant general. The financial commissioner, revenue, had also been instructed to ensure a timely and seamless refund of the GST to all the three shrines, said Amarinder, asking Harsimrat to stop shaming herself with lies.

First Published: Sep 23, 2019 01:35 IST