THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan has demanded that the Assembly session should be urgently convened to discuss the government decision to hike taxes to fetch additional revenue to the tune of Rs 2,010 crore.
The Speaker should intervene to convene an urgent Assembly session, he demanded. Terming the move unconstitutional, Achuthanandan said that it is for the first time in the history of the state that such a huge tax hike has been imposed through ordinance.
“Under the Constitution, the Assembly’s permission is needed for imposing additional duties. The public are not liable to pay the additional taxes which are being imposed without the Legislative Assembly’s approval,” he said. Achuthanandan pointed out that in the last budget the government had brought in additional tax burden to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore. The current taxes which are being imposed through the government order comes to a bigger amount, he said.
VS alleged that the Chief Minister has no clarity on the purpose of levying such a major tax hike. “As per the available data, the revenue from liquor sale hasn’t come down. Therefore, the government should make clear how the state fell into such a deep financial crisis,” he said.