Kolkata: State finance minister Amit Mitra on Thursday expressed apprehension that people will be prone to harassment by the taxmen for carrying out search, seizure and raids as the recent Union Budget has done away with I-T section 132A and has provided more teeth to the department. Addressing his reply speech on the Budget in the state Assembly, Mr Mitra said, “The Goods and Services Tax law allows the department officials authority to arrest offenders directly, which was not in the VAT law that requires filing FIRs. We had fought against this but could not win. However, the same was diluted a bit that under Rs 2 crore, it will be not applicable.”

He added that the opposition should have raised the issue on the Assembly floor, as the move will lead to harassment for the common people. He lauded the state Budget, claiming that in parameters it was an improvement over the Budget presented during the Left Front rule. “The revenue deficit in 2010-11 was 3.75 per cent and in 2015-16 the same had dropped to 0.97 per cent. The fiscal deficit that was 4.24 per cent has fallen to 2.22 per cent in 2015-16,” he added.

Left legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty termed the Budget as non-productive and said that the rise in revenue was mostly from excise from liquor and electricity tax and duties. He also alleged that there had been misappropriation of funds of SC/ST for cycles.

He also claimed that the damages in the Assembly on the day Leader of Opposition Abdul Manna was allegedly heckled will cost not more than Rs 12,000 while it has been put to the tune of Rs 12lakh. Speaker Barman Bannered shot back.