Kerala finance minister K N Balagopal welcomes SC order on GST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance minister K N Balagopal on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the GST council and said it would help to safeguard the federal rights of the state.
“The SC order upholds the spirit of cooperative federalism. The verdict passed by the bench of justice D Y Chandrachud substantiates the views upheld by the Left in the Parliament and outside. The implementation of GST and the unilateral decisions have affected the revenue of the states. I hope the judgement would help protect the financial identity and powers of the states,” he said.
As a member of the GST select committee, Balagopal had pointed out that several provisions in the GST bill could go against the interest of the states. “I hope this verdict would prompt the Union government to take decisions by taking into account the interest of the states as well,” he added.