Balancing act

Govt has faced flak for GAAR and has been looking for ways to soften impact and reassure domestic and global investor communities

The government has faced so much flak for its General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) that it has been looking for ways to soften the impact and reassure domestic and global investor communities. But it had a delicate problem: it needed to do so without discrediting the current President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, under whose finance ministership GAAR was introduced. The balancing act was reportedly found in the recommendation by the Shome panel that the introduction of GAAR be delayed by three years to 2015-16.