Govt was 'ill-prepared' to implement GST: Cong
New Delhi, Dec 25: Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal Tuesday alleged that the slashing of GST rates on a host of items was a "patchwork" for the "ill-prepared" introduction of the tax.
He demanded that petrol and electricity be also brought under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The GST council at its 31st meeting on Wednesday slashed tax rates for 23 commonly-used items. The rates have been reduced from 18 per cent to 12 and 5 per cent respectively.
"Reducing the taxes is just a patchwork for the ill-prepared introduction of GST as there was no conceptual clarity in the first place. This meeting was just a patchwork.
"India is the 161st country to introduce a GST-like arrangement, our concern is if we had to copy, it should have been done with clear concepts," Congress leader Badal told reporters here.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has always called the GST a "Gabbar Singh Tax". The GST was hastily implemented without any preparation, he said.
"The concepts were not clear, stakeholders were not consulted and there was no technological preparedness. We have been demanding that filing of GST returns be simplified, and petroleum and electricity be brought under its ambit," the Punjab finance minister said.
"If GST is about having 'one nation, one tax', such a big sector of the economy cannot be exempted," he said.
Badal said the BJP slashed the GST rates "out of panic" and that if elected to power, the Congress will implement a new simplified version of the GST, as its current version is "flawed".
He also said that decisions should be taken for the long-term good of the country and not out of political considerations.
While the government has claimed that the fresh rate rationalisation is an attempt to streamline GST and make it more people-friendly, the Congress and other opposition parties have objected to rate cut citing revenue consideration.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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