Retrospective, retrograde

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s aggressive defence of the proposed retrospective amendment to the Income-Tax Act that could let him net $2 billion in tax from Vodafone misses the point. Yes, the government is empowered to legislate and there is a history of such retrospective changes. What Mukherjee doesn’t address is the fact that the government lost the Vodafone case in the Supreme Court fair and square. His defence also ignores today’s economic and political reality.

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