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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has brushed aside apprehensions over relations between Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and the Finance Ministry, stating that the two shared mature ties.
Rajan’s three-year term will end in September and the Finance Ministry is yet to decide on whether to give him an extension. Speculation on whether he will get another term got intensified when newly nominated Rajya Sabha MP and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy suggested recently that Rajan should be removed from the post as he has “hiked interest rates in the garb of controlling inflation, which has damaged the country.”
To this, Jaitley, when interacting with newspersons at an event organised by the Indian Women’s Press Corps, said not much should be read into it. Jaitley reiterated that “it is a very mature relationship and we, at the highest level in the two institutions, have discussions and each other’s views are considered .”
Hopeful on GST Jaitley hoped the Constitution Amendment Bill for GST (Goods and Services Tax) will be passed in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
“Every regional party, barring the AIADMK, which has mixed voices, has a strong interest in the passage of GST,” Jaitley stressed, adding that all UPA partners, including the DMK and NCP and even Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States, have supported it.
“My preference is that there should be a consensus. If it doesn’t emerge, then the only option is the Parliamentary process,” he said, adding that the Congress should have had the vision to support it more aggressively because they can claim original authorship of the Bill.
His comments come soon after the adjournment of the Budget session of Parliament. The Constitution Amendment Bill for GST was not taken up for discussion.
“It is extremely difficult for the Congress party to take a dissenting view… when it comes to the crunch, it should support the Bill,” Jaitley said, stressing that except for the 1 per cent additional tax, “the rest of the GST Bill is verbatim and the same as what the UPA had introduced.”
Mallya issue Jaitley also said investigative agencies will make every endeavour to bring Vijay Mallya back to face the law.
“Typically, the United Kingdom has never been helpful in deportation. Once someone has entered with legitimate travel documents…(they believe) he can’t be deported,” he said, adding that the investigative agencies will use the extradition option to bring the former Kingfisher Airlines chief back.
He said the extradition process will now have to be used, after filing a charge-sheet.
Mallya left for the UK in March on a diplomatic passport. The now defunct Kingfisher Airlines has dues of ₹9,432 crore and is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).
Judicial activism The Finance Minister also stressed that the judiciary must draw its own “ Lakshmanrekha ” and not take decisions that fall in the domain of the Executive.
“The element of activism has to be blended with an element of restraint,” he said, adding that there should not be a compromise with other aspects of the basic structure of the Constitution in the name of independence of the judiciary.
While courts have legitimate authority to review the parameters of an Executive decision, he said that when courts exercise Executive power, there is no discourse available.
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