Refuse to pay taxes if govt doesn't curb 'hydra-headed' corruption: Bombay HC bench tells citizens
If corruption continues, taxpayers should refuse to pay taxes through a non-cooperation movement, the judge said.
Taking a serious note of the increasing menace of corruption, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court said that citizens should not pay taxes if the government fails to curb corruption.
Hearing an embezzlement case, the court termed corruption as a 'hydra-headed monster' and asked citizens to come together to raise their voice and refuse to pay the taxes, according to a report in a leading daily.
During the hearing of the case where funds worth Rs 385 crore in the Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe Vikas Mahamandal (LASVM) set up for the welfare of the Mathang community was misappropriated, Justice Arun Chaudhari said, "The miasma (unholy atmosphere) of corruption can be beaten if all work together. If it continues, taxpayers should refuse to pay taxes through a non-cooperation movement."
Stating that the government should understand the excruciating pain and anguish of the taxpayers, the judge observed that tax payers have been suffering for over two decades in the state and that corruption in government-run financial organizations had become rampant.
This comes just days after India continued to be at the 76th spot in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for 2015.