In a judgment drawing the line for bureaucrats in policy making, the Supreme Court held that government departments should follow the policy decided by their political masters in the Cabinet and not evolve contrary ones of their own.
The Supreme Court held that government should not be seen to speak in two voices.
“The government shall speak only in one voice. It has only one policy. The departments are to implement the government policy and not their own policy,” a judgment delivered by a three-judge bench of Justices Anil R. Dave, Kurian Joseph and A.K. Goel held.
Sending a strong message that contrary outcomes to policy decisions owing to disparity at political and departmental levels may unsettle industry, the judgment authored by Justice Kurian said “what is given by the right hand cannot be taken by the left hand.”
The judgment dated September 3 was based on an appeal filed by Lloyd Electric and Engineering Limited against Himachal Pradesh Excise and Taxation Department barring it from benefitting from the State Cabinet's decision to extend its 2004 Industrial Policy, allowing concessional rate of Central Sales Tax (CST) at one per cent.
The Cabinet extended the 2004 Policy beyond March 31, 2009 till March 31, 2013. However, the State Excise and Taxation Department's notification on the Cabinet decision was delayed and issued only on May 29, 2009.
Subsequently, the government department insisted that industrial units, including Lloyds, are not eligible for concessional CST in the interim two-month period between the Cabinet decision and the actual issuance of the notification in May 2009.
“Once the Council of Ministers has taken a decision to extend the 2004 Industrial Policy and extend tax concession beyond March 31, 2009, merely because the Excise and Taxation Department took some time to issue the notification, it cannot be held that the eligible units are not entitled to the concession till the Department issued the notification,” the court held.
The judgment said the State government is bound by the policy decision taken by the Council of Ministers.
