New Delhi: The Supreme Court held on Thursday (May 19) that recommendations made by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council are not binding on the Union and state governments. The Justice D.Y. Chandrachud-led bench also held that both parliament and the state legislatures can legislate matters related to the GST, LiveLaw reported.
“States and Centre can equally legislate on matters of GST. All recommendations of GST council is not binding on State legislature,” the court held, according to Bar and Bench.
“Article 246A treats State and Centre as equal. Article 279 says state and centre cannot act independent of each other. This also points towards competitive federalism,” the judgment continued.
The bench also noted the importance of cooperative federalism, while highlighting that the GST legislation should be collaborative. “Indian federalism is a dialogue between cooperative and non-cooperative federalism. Indian federalism is a dialogue in which states and Centre always engages in a dialogue,” the order noted.