Alleging that malpractices in the stock market led to its crash in the past two days, the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Wednesday demanded an enquiry into the collapse and sought increase in the securities transaction tax. “We demand an appropriate enquiry as there are reasons to believe that malpractices, aberrations and the lack of a supervisory role by SEBI has led to the crash,” party leader Gurudas Dasgupta said. He held Finance Minister P Chidambaram morally responsible along with the Government’s economic policies for the crumbling on the bourses. Party General Secretary A B Bardhan demanded a hefty increase in the securities transaction tax (applicable on purchase and sale of equities), which, he said, had been reduced to a “nominal 0.1 per cent” following “pessure” from big players in the stock exchanges. The veteran Communist leader sought corrective measures to stabilise the stock market to prevent huge accumulation of wealth by a few at the cost of the common man. He also demanded the imposition of heavy transaction tax on this profit without production.
