Punjab Assembly passes bill to dissolve state Vigilance Commission

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Assembly on Friday passed a bill to dissolve the state Vigilance Commission, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann saying the body was not serving any useful purpose except being a burden on the exchequer.

The Assembly also passed two other bills to tackle the evasion of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and making gram panchayats the exclusive owner of the common village land.

The state anti-graft body was set up under the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act, 2020 by the previous Congress government to curb corruption among the state's public servants.

The Punjab State Vigilance Commission (Repeal) Bill, 2022 was moved by Chief Minister Mann on the third day of the state Assembly.

Introducing the bill, Mann said the state commission Act suffers from serious deviations.

The Vigilance Commission was not serving any useful objective except being a burden on the exchequer as there are multiple agencies to deal with the same issues, said Mann. Therefore, to avoid overlapping, contradictory findings, resultant delays and gaps in communication, it has become necessary to repeal the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act, 2020, said the CM.

The Punjab Assembly also passed the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema moved the GST Bill, saying tax evaders will be dealt with severely.

To check the menace of bogus billing and fraudulent input tax credit, an amendment has been made to empower the state government to restrict availing of the input tax credit by the taxpayer.

The amendment will provide for furnishing of details of outward supplies as a condition for furnishing returns to check the menace of bogus billing and fraudulent input tax credit and to improve compliance.

''A fee has been introduced for late filing of statements by taxpayers who are tax collectors such as e-commerce operators to improve compliance,'' he said.

The amendment will also ensure levying of interest only on input tax credit availed and utilised.

Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal also tabled the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulations) Amendment Bill, 2022. The Bill was also passed by the House.

With this amendment, gram panchayats will be exclusive owner of the common village land.

Dhaliwal assured of widening the road from Badalgarh to Nava Gaon and the construction of a 30-metre-long bridge on the Jhambowali choe in Lehragaga.

His reply came following a calling attention notice of AAP MLA Barinder Kumar Goyal, drawing attention towards non-construction of the bridge on the drain running through Badalgarh to the Nava Gaon road.