No GST dues pending, some states have not submitted AG report, says Nirmala Sitharaman
The Centre on Tuesday said no GST dues of any state are pending before it and that some state governments have not submitted the AG’s authenticated certificate for release of their share of funds.
Replying to a supplementary question in Rajya Sabha, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the narrative that GST dues are pending from the Centre is not correct and is a misnomer as states have not submitted the AG’s report. “It is important to understand that the AG’s (accountant general) certification is (mandatory)… If the AG’s certificate does not reach us, we cannot clear… Some states, even after sending the AG’s certificate, tell us to hold on till they clear it finally,” she said.
Revised criminal code Bills: Life term, death for hate-crime murder, mob lynching; terror ambit widened
Enhancing the minimum punishment for mob lynching and hate-crime murder from seven years to life imprisonment and expanding the definition of terrorism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday introduced revised versions of three criminal law Bills in Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (originally enacted in 1898); and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, the Bill that seeks to replace the IPC, now prescribes a punishment for mob lynching that extends from life imprisonment to death. In its earlier version, introduced in August, the Bill prescribed a punishment that extended from seven years to death.
