What Does Keralam Gain From Liquor Tax Cut? Pinarayi Vijayan Questions UDF Government's Hasty Decision

Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that the UDF government is shielding the profit-seeking interests of corporate liquor companies, saying all legislative procedures were thrown to the wind to pass the Finance Bill. He said the Finance Bill was not part of the Assembly schedule when the revised budget was presented, but was subsequently rushed onto the agenda in the second half of the session to legitimise the tax concession for a liquor company. The CPI(M) leader said at a press conference that the hidden motive behind this was to benefit certain liquor companies.

He noted that Finance Bills containing tax proposals are normally passed only after a Subject Committee scrutinises them — but in this case, not even a time was fixed for the Subject Committee to meet. There was, he said, undue haste and stubbornness on the part of the government in pushing through this bill, with Chief Minister V D Satheesan himself being the most insistent. The Chief Minister's determination, he said, is to grant a tax concession to liquor companies by any means possible.

Although Satheesan had earlier said the UDF would take the final call on the budget proposal, those assurances turned out to be a sham — once the Finance Bill is passed, any discussion within the UDF becomes meaningless. The tax concession will lead to widespread availability of cheap liquor across state, he warned, adding that any government would normally take such a decision only after consulting the party, the front, and the cabinet — yet no one in any leadership position knew about it except the Chief Minister himself.

Pinarayi Vijayan also questioned the Chief Minister's argument in the Assembly that if the Beverages Corporation is not permitted to sell low-strength liquor, the tax concession cannot take effect — saying the Chief Minister has still not clarified whether the Beverages Corporation or the government actually intends to sell it. If there is no intention to sell, he asked, why the hurry to grant the tax concession? And once the tax rate is officially notified, the government cannot control sales — could it guarantee that liquor companies would not approach the court and get a favourable order? He said young people drawn to low-strength liquor could eventually graduate to stronger intoxicants, asking whether the UDF government grasps this social danger. No tax concession has ever been granted in Kerala to spirit-based liquor before this, he added.

He said the Chief Minister had dismissed Opposition's concerns as exaggeration. But who are the "others" who have also raised concerns, whom the Chief Minister mockingly referred to in the Assembly? Among those who endorsed the Opposition's concerns are former KPCC president V M Sudheeran and former MP T N Prathapan, with K C Venugopal and the Excise Minister also reacting in their own ways. Certain allied party leaders within the UDF and religious heads have also expressed concern. The liquor tax cut, he concluded, is an irresponsible, unilateral and socially harmful decision.