Finance Bill 2017 passed in Lok Sabha, mini reforms package

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday signed off on Finance Bill 2017, ratifying the government’s tax proposals announced in the budget and also a small but significant package of reform initiatives directed at improving the ease of doing business and boosting anti-corruption initiatives undertaken by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Accordingly, the government has made Aadhaar mandatory for filing of income-tax returns and for obtaining and retaining the permanent account number (PAN) from 1 July and capped legal cash transactions at Rs2 lakh, ensuring a paper trail for all high-value transactions.

To improve the ease of doing business and ensuring faster disposal of cases by various tribunals, the government will also reduce the number of tribunals and bring parity in pay and service conditions of the officials. The merger of eight tribunals with existing ones and pay parity for judges will ensure that these quasi-judicial bodies are adequately staffed, ensuring faster disposal of cases.

On Tuesday, when the amendments were introduced in Parliament, the opposition objected, saying the government was trying to legislate non-budgetary policies through the finance bill. Finance minister Arun Jaitley denied this and the introduction of the amendments was allowed by the speaker.

The finance bill is a money bill and needs only to be cleared by the Lok Sabha, where the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA has a clear majority.

Under the new amendments, the Competition Appellate Tribunal will be merged with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). #casansaar (PTI - LiveMint)