GST Bill passed in Rajya Sabha

Rajya Sabha has set the stage for the roll-out of a uniform goods and services tax with the initiation of the debate on the The Constitution (122nd Amendment) [GST] Bill, 2014. Here are the proceedings in Parliament for the day.

Latest updates:

9.35 pm: The votes back to 200

9.33 pm; Now the votes have decreased to 198.

9.30 pm: Now it is back to 203 votes.

9.29 pm: Another division takes place in Rajya Sabha. Now it is back to 202.

9.27 pm: Wow. It has now increased to 205.What's happening in Rajya Sabha

9.26 pm: It is back to 200 now

9.25 pm: The number of votes has now come down to 202.

9.23 pm: The number of votes gone up again to 203

9.20 pm.: By every clause the number of voters is increasing from 197 to 201

9.13 pm: The House now votes clause by clause of the GST Bill

9.12 pm: Rajya Sabha passes clause 2 of the amendment GST Bill

9.11 pm: the House is voting on clauses

9.10 pm: Subbirami Reddy's amendment defeated by voice vote

9.08 pm: Rajya Sabha passes GST Bill

9.05 pm: Secretary General of Rajya Sabha explaining the voting procedure for the members.

9.03 pm: Voting underway in Rajya Sabha on The Constitution (122nd Amnd.) Bill, 2014; members being told to go back to their seats.

9.01 pm: Let the lobbies be cleared, says Kurien; Venkaiah says no division.

8.58 pm: Congress sticks to position to bring GST Bill as a money Bill. Jaitley stands his point

8.57 pm: PJ Kurien puts the GST Bill to vote.

8.56 pm: If Jaitley does not want to take this House into confidence on deciding the type of the bill, it means he intends to bring it as a money bill, says Kapil Sibal.

8.52 pm: There is no assurance that Jaitley will not declare this as a money bill, says Jairam Ramesh

8.51 pm: Chidambaram says, “there is nothing in the Constitution that obliges him to bring it as a money bill.” He adds “In the interest of the country, please bring it as a financial bill.”

8.50 pm: Arun Jaitley says “we will fully comply with the Constitution”.

8.47 pm: Arun Jaitley replies to the query of Derek O'Brien.

8.46 pm: Chidambaram appreciates the ending words of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. GST Bills will not be brought as money bills, says Mr. Chidambaram.

8.45 pm: Derek O' Brien of TMC seeks clarity on dates

8.44 pm: AIADMK walks out of the Rajya Sabha before the voting takes place. The party will be abstaining from voting.

8.42 pm: We must have a uniformed tax structure, says Arun Jaitley

8.37 pm: Arun Jaitley speaks on AIADMK's objections.

8.35 pm: Arun Jaitley said “we didn't want confrontation on GST Bill”

8.30 pm: Arun Jaitley answers to a query asked by the former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

8.25 pm: Chidambaram's remark “clumsy drafting” is too extreme, Jaitley says.

8.20 pm: To implement the GST is a headache and being a former Finance Minister is a luxury, he says. Explains why Modi opposed it in 2011. Says put the 2011 bill before States not one State will agree, he says. Provision for compensation was not there in the 2011 bill, he says.

8.15 pm: There will be no cascading effect of tax on tax, says Jaitley. In Consumer Price Index basket 55% items are tax-exempt, 32% are at a low rate, only 12 % at a standard rate, he says.

8.09 pm: Powers of Parliament not taken away, powers of State Legislatures also not taken away, both retain their sovereignty, he says. GST council will recommend items to be kept in list and the ones to be removed, he says.

8.06 pm: Standing Committee suggested new system that States will have two-thirds and Centre has one-third. It will be half-truth to say Centre has a veto. States too have a veto with the quorum being 75 per cent members agreeing, he says.

8.03 pm: GST regime will see a pooled sovereignty, where Centre and State will sit together for the purpose of tax, he says. The Union of States cannot exist without the union. It is not a confederation of States, he says.

8.01 pm: Jaitley rises to reply to the debate. Says except one all parties supported the bill. Demand for him to speak in English. Kurien rules he can speak in any language. Jaitley changes to English.

7.59 pm: Kurien gives Kerala's Abdul Wahab (IUML) a wildcard chance to speak. Kerala is losing Rs. 3,000 crore.

7.57 pm: Derek O' Brien alleges that CPM has been given more time. Kurien says he was liberal as it was a very important discussion.

7.45 pm: It's unfair to says Congress is anti-GST, says Anand Sharma. Our demands are most reasonable, he says. We didn't draw the GST cap from air, but it's compatible with global tax rates. When the law is made it should be in the form of financial bill, he says.

7.35 pm: There was political opposition, not based on principles, to the GST bill… from Gujarat, from M.P., says Sharma. Arguments were put forward that the GST bill was against States.

7.28 pm: Anand Sharma (Congress, Himachal Pradesh) says the GST will usher in transform the way taxes are administered.

7.23 pm: Biswajit Daimary (BPF, Assam) says powers of non-State, non-UT administrative arrangements like Bodoland Council should be spelt out.

7.14 pm: Prem Chand Gupta (RJD, Jharkhand) says taxation has been exploited by government after government. We are also stakeholders in contrast to the image that GST means this (Congress) or that (BJP). Tells us how regional imbalance will be dealt with, asks Gupta adding that there should be clarity on GST council. Bring this up as a financial bill, says Gupta.