New Delhi: The Modi government’s top law officer Attorney General Mr Mukul Rohatgi has committed a gross impropriety by advising the Income Tax department not to file an appeal against the Bombay High Court judgment, which ruled that telecom company Vodafone was not liable to pay Rs 3,200 crore tax.
Mr Rohatgi, who as a private lawyer had appeared for Vodafone in May 24, 2012 in the Supreme Court should have recused himself from tendering an opinion in favour of the same company as the government’s top law officer.
It is beyond any reasonable understanding that when the IT department wants to file an appeal in the Supreme Court for recovery of taxes from this British telecom company and the Solicitor General Mr Ranjit Kumar endorsed the department’s view, why did the finance ministry seek Mr Rohatgi’s opinion ?
It is equally surprising that Mr Rohatgi did not disclose his conflict of interest and went ahead to tender an opinion which favours Vodafone, his client in the past.
The Aam Aadmi Party would like to know from the Narendra Modi government whether it will allow such conflict of interest of its highest law officer to trump public interest and the interest of tax revenues of the country ?
The Modi government also seems to be moving in the direction of the previous UPA government, which tried to undo its own amendment passed in parliament to help Vodafone escape its tax liability.
The very argument that such moves will send a positive signal to foreign investors is a flawed logic, since helping global giants to escape tax liabilities in India will not prove beneficial for the Indian industry.
Arm twisting tax authorities by dishonest means will only prove counter-productive and will discourage clean investors from choosing India as a destination.
The AAP demands that the Modi government should ignore Rohatgi’s opinion and proceed in consonance with the IT department’s view, which wants to challenge the October 10 judgment of the Bombay High Court.
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