Udhampur, March 04: Describing the imposition of Property tax in J&K as highly unjustified, unconstitutional and atrocious, former minister and senior NPP leader Harsh Dev Singh said that such a move further amounted to encroachment upon the powers of local legislature.
Addressing a press conference, the former minister said that the property tax has been imposed through an irregular amendment made in the Municipal Corporation Act and Municipal Council Act by the MHA by taking recourse to the J&K Re-organization Act.
Singh said that such a significant amendment which has a far reaching impact upon the J&K’s economy and its people and could not have been affected without the legislative nod of the elected Assembly.
He said that laws, enactments, amendments pertaining to Municipal Corporations, Councils etc are the prerogative of State Legislatures/local Assemblies as envisaged in schedule VII, list II of the Constitution of India.
“The GoI and LG administration should have therefore refrained from crossing the rubicon and desisted from embarking upon such a mis-adventure which has sparked massive outrage all over J&K,” he added.
The former minister reminisced that a bill for imposition of the Property tax was introduced in J&K Assembly as well in 2011 but it was vociferously opposed by the Panthers Party resulting in its withdrawal by the then govt.
“Moreover, there was no improvement in the drainage and sanitation system in various cities and towns with Jammu city in particular having been declared as a tail-ender in repeated ‘Swachh Bharat Survekshans’ surveys held by the Union H&UD Ministry”.
Singh said the imposition of property tax in such circumstances after living through huge taxation in the form of Toll Plazas and increased cess and duties on petrol and diesel world prove counterproductive.
The BJP would be defenestrated if it failed to withdraw the obnoxious property tax which was likely to affect the very survival of a vast section of population inhabiting the urban areas of J&K”, asserted Harsh.
Cautioning the government of serious consequences arising from imposition of Property Tax, Harsh Dev observed that since all the major commercial activities in J&K like tourism, industries, real estate, agriculture, etc had born the brunt of insurgency, civil unrest and natural disasters in the past many years, the move to levy such tax had evoked only cynicism besides sparking outrage amongst people in general.
