Precious
Precious means valuable and to be guarded to be sure. But it
also means, in another context, a self regard disproportionate to circumstance.
A stance which is irritating and irksome to others, but the person in question,
and in this context the country he or she represents, is oblivious to the
discomfort his or her attitude is causing.
A lot of our babudom
and politico inspired schemes and
proposals that hover in the air threatening to turn into laws bear such
description. User friendliness is not their objective. Perhaps an urge to bully
and dominate born out of a neo-colonial rule book animates their conception.
And this preciousness of attitude has been there from the
start of our journey as an independent nation. Remember the infamous Krishna
Menon harangues from an assumed Socialist pulpit that lasted for a record
number of hours at the United Nations? Or Mr. Nehru lecturing the United States
on non-alignment. Even as we begged them for military assistance as China
overwhelmed our forces in 1962. And remember the food assistance from JFK as we
ran short?
Though we have come a long way, the preciousness persists to
date, now into the second decade of the 21st century, in place of the reasonable global outlook that would have
made better sense. Foreigners and NRIs find it very difficult to do business
with it, but our Government seems to need it for its own self esteem. Or is it
the imperial influence of sitting in the North and South Blocks, up on Raisina
Hill, flanking the way to Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the very stones breathe of
ICS satraps and Viceroys?
And it isn’t as if everyone who is a citizen and “ordinarily
resident” is entirely at peace with the routine highhandedness, arrogance and
pomposity of Indian governance either, even though we may be used to it and
perhaps resigned to our lot.
The preciousness does incalculable harm, both to our near-term
and longer horizoned prospects, and damages our reputation as a country. The
flip flop on GAAR (General anti-avoidance rules) with its burden of proof
shifting from the tax authorities to the tax payer and back again, along with its grandiose
postponement for a year as a concession to the protests it sparked, is a case
in point.
Happily, postponement of implementation in the Indian
context may mean dropping the notion altogether. The strenuous argument that
several other countries have clauses in their tax laws similar to GAAR and
impose them retrospectively did not cut much ice. Besides do we want the
investment we don’t have in-country, estimated at several trillion US dollars,
for infrastructure development alone, or don’t we? And if we do, it makes sense
to be attractive about it, does it not?
US rating agency Standard and Poor (S&P), too have
dropped our sovereign rating a notch to “negative” from “stable” based on the
drooping state of our economy, the precipitous fall in our annual GDP
forecasts, our burgeoning deficits, our stalled industry and business climate,
our falling agricultural outputs etc. As it is India’s rating is BBB- which is
the lowest investment grade rating offered by S&P.
Of course, the carping aside, the foreigners will come,
because of the substantial opportunities offered by the huge and growing Indian
market, in a world that is stagnating in many of its parts. But the GAAR
attracted so much criticism because of its jingoistic tone and its
retrospective focus. Besides having a natural advantage is not an excuse for
gracelessness.
Another irritant in the same vein is the law-making in Delhi
with regard to GPA (General Power of Attorney) transfers of property with
retrospective effect from October 2011, when the Supreme Court of India
pronounced on the matter. It might set off a quick-fix revenue garnering option
in other states too.
Property and its development in the face of considerable
demand is a propellant of both employment and the industries it draws upon. And
yet, even in an economy buffeted by high oil prices, high interest rates, and
rampant inflation, the Court and Government proceeds to score yet another self-goal.
In a property market slowed by high-interest rates and tight
credit, making transfers tough and more expensive is probably ill-timed. But
then, the Supreme Court upholds the law without much regard for ground
realities when it gets around to it, and the Government seems to flex its
muscles and set about putting pressure on others particularly whenever its own
performance leaves much to be desired. At other times, it amends the law to
suit itself and outflank the judiciary.
The GPA transfers of leasehold, or indeed freehold property,
has gone on for years with the transfers duly registered by the Government
without murmur. Why then should it open up a can of such succulent worms all of
a sudden, that too retrospectively, using a Supreme Court order to protect
itself? It wants the extra revenue by way of stamp duty of course. Hence a new
attempt to right a neglected wrong.
Never mind that the finding, let alone obtaining the
cooperation of people whom one has bought the property from on an irrevocable GPA,
may be difficult. This notwithstanding, the Government wants not only that we
should do so, but first have the seller pay to convert the properties to
freehold if they qualify per criterion of “authorised” and “unauthorised”, and
then effect a sale with the buyer paying for the Government’s applicable stamp
duties.
The bogey of “unauthorised” construction has always been
good for extractions of tribute. It gets built in the first place because of
such lubrication, and then it comes apart because of eventual court orders.
The demolition squads come by years after the fact, on
“unauthorised” properties or extensions. One may well ask why so much
unauthorised construction comes up regularly. But we all know it does so with
the connivance of the relevant authorities, and under their protective watch.
One may also ask why no attempt is made to punish those in
the Government who have connived at such law-breaking. And why only the owners
of the unauthorised construction should have their property demolished, that
too at their own expense.
One can ask, but don’t hold your breath if you want any
replies, because the bribery and corruption trail leading towards the
authorities is not anything if not fairly inpenetrable.
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