New Delhi: Two GST appellate tribunals will be set up in Kerala at Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam, State Finance Minister K N Balagopal said on Tuesday. The decision was taken at the 50th GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council meeting in the national capital.
Briefing reporters, he said that each tribunal will have two members — one judicial and one technical. The demand of Kerala is for having three tribunals, he added.
He also said that Kerala and some other states raised concerns about the recent amendment to the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) with respect to the GST Network (GSTN).
The concerns were on whether the amended provisions could be politically misused at some point of time.
According to Balagopal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the council that the amendment will be for only receiving details from the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“GST Council is a constitutional authority. In that meeting, it has been told that this is not for giving our (GSTN) details and only for receiving the details from ED.
“It is not a question of assurance. The authority of the GSTN is the GST Council and if it is decided like that, then it is binding,” he said.