Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Feb 6: The Union Budget for 2017 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was neither satisfactory nor an appreciable one, said renowned senior advocate of Supreme Court of India Feroze B Andhyarujina on February 5.
Speaking at ‘CA Y Sudhir Rao Memorial Public Lecture On Union Budget 2017’ organised at Hotel Diana, near Jodukatte Udupi by Udupi branch of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) Andhyarujina said, "Demonetisation has badly affected agriculture, small scale businessmen and the entire economic system of the nation. Dummy accounts and deactivated accounts are activated. Shell companies are in trouble. Hawala and inter-banking transactions will be locked. Multiple account holders will be trapped dur to demonetisation".
"Demonetisation effected a sudden spurt in sales. The normal account balance has increased by 70 per cent. Nearly 2.39 lac people have recieved notices from the Income Tax department to show their source of income," he said.
"How many people lost lives due to demonetistaion should be reviewed under Article 14. All are equal before Law. Article 3 in the Indian constitution says about right to life and liberty to expression. Does the government have power under Section 26 of the RBI act to enforce demonetisation? Do the government have power to put restrictions on banking transactions in a democratic country?," he questioned.
"The RBI showed discrimination between banks and cooperative societies. The cooperative banks have collected Rs 8660 crores, after five days of demonetisation. India is basically a country of villages. So normally villagers will approach cooperative banks," he said.
"The 2017 budget is totally a long and a controversial budget. The individual tax rate is almost the same as before. The rate of interest for those who have an annual income from Rs 2.5 lac to Rs 5 lac is 5 per cent. The tax rate then jumps to 20 per cent. Tax payers would have got some relief from the existing tax if the 10 per cent slab was implemented," he stated.
"The revenue department should focus more on big income earners instead of collecting tax from poor, because only 25 per cent of the total revenue is collected from poor. Nearly 88 amendments have been brought in the budget. But what is the gain to the government from demonetisation policy?" Andhyarujina questioned.
"The GST bill is not clear. If it is not clear, it would lead to a lot of litigations. The GST bill should be scrutinized before implementation," concluded Andhyarujina.
Udupi branch of ICAI organises the lecture after the Union budget every year under the aegis of Charitable Trust run by CA Sharath Rao, son of CA Y Sudhir Rao.
Earlier, treasurer CA Mahindra Shenoy introduced the guests. CA Sharath Rao briefed the programme. Chairman of ICAI Ganesh B Kanchan welcomed the gathering. Secretary CA Rekha Devanand compered the programme.