Kerala Finance Minister castigates Centre over fiscal policies, calls it 'damaging'
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal has castigated the Centre by terming its fiscal policies as 'damaging' to the federal structure of the country.
He also targetted the opposition Congress-led UDF in the state over "unprecedented protests" against the Left government over the imposition of cess on fuel prices, saying they were silent over the cess collected by the union government.
The Congress has been organising widespread protests across the state against the fuel cess of Rs 2 imposed by the state government in the recent budget.
Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Balagopal said this was not the first time a cess was proposed in the budget.
"We have not received the GST compensation since June last year. The Centre has reduced the tax but its benefit was not going to the consumers but to huge corporate companies. I would like to reiterate that today the state governments in this country do not even have the power of panchayats," Balagopal said.
He claimed that the fiscal policies were 'damaging' the federal structure of the country.
"States have a federal authority but that authority of the state governments has been curtailed and they took away the control over tax collection."
Taking on the Congress party, Balagopal recalled that in 2015-16, the then UDF government had imposed Rs 1 as cess on fuel prices.
"Similarly, this cess was imposed for social security seed fund purposes. We need to look at the situation of the state. Last two times, we did not impose any major tax due to the pandemic but announced packages of Rs 20,000 and Rs 5,000 among others," the CPI(M) leader pointed out.
Justifying the cess, Balagopal said the rise was "not exorbitant" whereas over Rs 19 was being collected by the central government.
The government has said the social security cess on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and on the sale of petrol and diesel were part of its commitment to continue protecting the lives of vulnerable sections of society by supplementing financial resources.
An additional revenue of Rs 400 crore is expected through the social security cess on each bottle of IMFL while an additional revenue of Rs 750 crore is expected from the cess on sale of petrol and diesel at the rate of Rs 2 per litre.
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Nightclub fire: Goa court remands Luthra brothers in police custody for five days
Panaji (PTI): A court in North Goa on Wednesday remanded Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub, in police custody for five days.
The brothers, brought to Goa from Delhi after being deported from Thailand in connection with the December 6 blaze that killed 25, were produced in the court after undergoing health check-ups twice at the District Hospital in North Goa.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Mapusa Puja Sardesai remanded the two brothers in police custody for five days.
Advocate Vishnu Joshi, representing Bhavana Joshi who lost four family members in the tragedy, said that the accused were asking for “special consideration” claiming poor health.
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“We said they should not be given any extra relaxation,” he said, adding that the court has taken cognisance of the fact that this is about the death of “25 people in the form of mass genocide”.
“But since they kept pressing for medical check-up, the court ordered reexamination of their health. It is clear in the medical examination that they don’t require any consideration. The accused sought special considerations in the lock-up like a good mattress, which the court refused,” said Joshi.
A team of the Goa Police, along with the Luthra brothers, arrived at the Manohar International Airport, Mopa, in North Goa at 10.45 am.
The duo was initially taken to a Primary Health Centre at Siolim for medical examination. They were then taken to the District Hospital at Mapusa.
After their health assessment, the two were brought to the court.
The court directed that the accused be sent for fresh medical examination. Accordingly, the two were again taken to the District Hospital.
Later, they were produced before Judge Sardesai, who ordered the five-day police custody of the accused.
After the fire tragedy at Arpora village, the Anjuna police had registered a case against the Luthra brothers on various charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The brothers were arrested in Delhi on Tuesday after being deported from Thailand. A court there allowed the Goa Police their two-day transit remand.
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The duo had fled to Phuket in Thailand early on December 7, hours after the fire at their nightclub, prompting the authorities to issue an Interpol Blue Corner Notice and cancel their passports.
They were detained by Thai authorities at Phuket on December 11 following a request from the Indian government, which later coordinated with officials in Thailand to deport them under legal treaties between the two nations.
Five managers and staff members have already been arrested by the Goa Police in connection with the fire.
