Goods and Service Tax (GST) is the single comprehensive indirect tax, operational from 1 July 2017, on supply of goods and services, right from the manufacturer/service provider to the consumer. It is a destination-based consumption tax with facility of Input Tax Credit in the supply chain. It is applicable throughout the country with one rate for one type of goods/service. It has amalgamated a large number of Central and State taxes and cesses. It has replaced large number of taxes on goods and services levied on production/sale of goods or provision of service.
As there have been a number of intermediate goods/services, which were manufactured/provided in the economy, the pre-GST tax regime imposed taxes not on the value added at each stage but on the total value of the commodity/service with minimal facility of utilisation of Input Tax Credit (ITC). The total value included taxes paid on intermediate goods/services. This amounted to cascading of tax. Under GST, the tax is discharged at every stage of supply and the credit of tax paid at the previous stage is available for set off at the next stage of supply of goods and/or services. It is thus effectively a tax on value addition at each stage of supply.
In view of our large and fast-growing economy, it addresses to establish parity in taxation across the country, and extend principles of ‘value-added taxation’ to all goods and services. It has replaced various types of taxes/cesses, levied by the Central and State/UT Governments. Some of the major taxes that were levied by Centre were Central Excise Duty, Service Tax, Central Sales Tax, Cesses like KKC and SBC. The major State taxes were VAT/Sales Tax, Entry Tax, Luxury Tax, Octroi, Entertainment Tax, Taxes on Advertisements, Taxes on Lottery/Betting/Gambling, State Cesses on goods etc. These have been subsumed in GST.
Criminology is the scientific and jurisprudential study of crime, criminal behaviour, and the penal response of the state. It operates at the intersection of law, sociology, psychology, and public policy. Its foundational principle is nullum crimen sine lege, nulla poena sine lege, stressing that there is no crime nor punishment without a pre-existing law. Traditional criminology was shaped by the Classical School, emphasizing free will and rationality. Influenced by Bentham’s utilitarianism, it viewed punishment as a deterrent mechanism, echoing audi alteram partem in demanding procedural fairness. In contrast, the Positivist School, focused on biological, psychological, and sociological causes of criminality, thereby shifting from retributive justice to rehabilitative models.
Modern criminology encompasses diverse domains like victimology, penology, white-collar crime, cybercrime, and transnational offences. The traditional ele ments of crime, mens rea and actus reus remain crucial. However, strict liability offences and corporate crimes often challenge this binary. With the advent of globalization, criminology now interfaces with international criminal law, human rights jurisprudence, and restorative justice. It aims to reintegrate the offender and provide restitution to victims. Furthermore, critical criminology interrogates how law disproportionately penalizes marginalized groups, reflecting concerns of penal populism, mass incarceration, and criminalization of poverty. This evolving discipline critiques not just criminal behaviour but the social construction of de viance itself.