New Delhi: Introducing 40 amendments to the Finance Bill, the government on Tuesday moved a fresh proposal to cap cash transactions at Rs 2 lakh instead of Rs 3 lakh as provided in the Budget.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley had proposed the cap to be Rs 3 lakh with effect from April 1 while presenting the Budget on February 1. It was the special investigation team on black money that had first recommended a cap of cash transactions.
A penalty of equal amount would be levied in case of violation of the provision, according to a tweet by Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia after the amendment was moved.
The amendments to the laws like Companies Act, Employees Provident Fund, Smuggling and Foreign Exchange Act, Trai Act and IT Act, have been aimed at making the functioning of tribunals more efficient by merging the smaller ones and reducing their numbers from 40 to 12.
The move led to protests by Opposition parties like TMC, BJD and RSP in the Lok Sabha that said the amendments to 40 Acts was being done in the form of “back-door entry”.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan overruled the objections by the Opposition parties, saying that the “incidental provisions” involved in the amendments constitute a “money bill” and therefore can be considered as part of the finance bill.
Defending the move to make amendments, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said: “You cannot have a bill which says government will spend Rs 100,000 crore without detailing how it would be spent. You cannot have a bill where you say there will be 5 per cent without specifying what will be the deduction, what will be the power of assessing officer, appeal provision... No tax can be imposed without reference to courts or tribunals... These are incidental provisions…”
As Jaitley moved the Finance Bill for discussion, N.K. Premanchandran (RSP) said the government is not following the rules. “It is being bulldozed... If you conduct the House like this, then there is no need for the Monsoon and Winter sessions... (Parliamentary) Standing committee can be curtailed. The supreme right of Parliament is being taken away.”
Saying that the government is bringing amendments to the Representation of People Act, RBI Act and Sebi Act, Premachandran added: “How can the issue of electoral bond come under Finance Bill? These amendments do not come under the purview of the Finance Bill.”
Deepender Hooda (Cong) said the government should have brought a separate bill on transparency in electoral funding.
With discussions remaining inconclusive, the Finance Bill is now expected to receive the parliamentary nod on Wednesday.
