For two years, businessmen and tax professionals of the city have been fighting the demand of opening a bench of GST Tribunal in Indore. Even big promises were made regarding this during the election period. The Central Government also gave NOC in the name of Indore. But, the state government is not in favor of creating a tribunal bench in Indore.
GST Appellate Tribunal bench will not be established in Indore. Even though Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has agreed to it. MP Shankar Lalwani has raised the issue in Parliament. Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may have made a promise and the business tax consultants of Indore may have resorted to agitation and even to the court. All these efforts seem to have failed.
The state government has rejected Indore’s claim. For two years, businessmen and tax professionals of the city have been fighting the demand of opening a bench of GST Tribunal in Indore. First there was a conflict over the delay in opening the tribunal bench. After this the fight against ignoring Indore started.
Within one and a half years, traders and tax consultants of Indore received assurances from the Chief Minister to the Union Finance Minister. Everyone had agreed that a bench would open in Indore. Now the news has come that even though the Central Government has given NOC in the name of Indore, the State Government is not in favor of setting up a tribunal bench in Indore.
Hearing being held in online mode
The state government had earlier said that it would send the proposal to the Centre, but now it has been thrown into the waste basket. The government has given a message to the state GST officials that there is no need for a bench in Indore because in the latest phase all the hearings are being held in online mode.
In such a situation, the location of the tribunal will not make any difference. After this, Commercial Tax Headquarters at Indore has also stopped efforts and correspondence in this regard. Departmental sources are saying that a clear message has been given from above that the Center only has to issue the notification.
But, upon opening of the tribunal bench, the burden of expenses ranging from its setup to officers and employees will fall on the state government. Troubled by the poor financial condition, the state government does not want to bear the expenses of the GST Tribunal bench from its treasury.
Only one GST in MP
The tax law provides for an Appellate Tribunal to hear and resolve tax disputes. The headquarter of Commercial Tax is in Indore, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is in Indore and Company Law Tribunal to High Court benches are also in Indore. Indore region is the biggest revenue generator and taxpayer.
In such a situation, Indore’s claim was considered confirmed. In July 2023, the Union Finance Ministry issued a notification establishing Appellate Tribunals in all the states. Indore’s name was not in it. What is even more surprising is that from Chhattisgarh to Gujarat to Rajasthan or other 11 states, there are tribunal benches in more than one city.
But, the only bench in Madhya Pradesh was kept in Bhopal. The struggle started after this. When the issue was raised in Parliament, in December 2023, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said that we have no objection to opening a bench in Indore. If the state government sends the name, we will approve it. After this, the traders of entire Malwa-Nimar including Indore had united. The state government agreed during the election season, but has now backed away.
The petition is still alive
Tax professionals believe that Indore and Malwa Nimar have the highest number of GST registered traders. He will have to go to Bhopal to hear tax disputes related to GST. Along with this, CAs, tax consultants and lawyers will also have to race. In such a situation, there should be a bench in Indore.
In this regard, Tax Practitioners Association had also filed a petition in the High Court. However, this petition did not come up for hearing after September 2023 because everyone was convinced by government assurances.
