Chennai : Welcoming the recent Supreme Court judgments holding that the recommendations of GST Council is not binding on Centre and State and the release of Perarivalan, convicted in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said the verdicts safeguarded the State’s rights. Addressing a press conference in Madurai, Rajan said the Supreme Court had held that the recommendations of the GST Council were not binding on the Centre and the State. It was a recommendatory body and it cannot supersede the State’s rights power for enacting laws with regard to Goods and Services Tax (GST). The State also had powers to enact laws.
He noted that the Supreme Court had on Wednesday invoked its extraordinary powers “to do complete justice” under Article 142 of the Constitution and ordered the release of Perarivalan. It had held that the Tamil Nadu Council of Ministers’ advice to pardon Perarivalan was binding on the Governor. He said both the judgments were turning points in safeguarding the State’s rights. For years, the Centre was acting against the interests of the States, the State’s rights and federalism.
