Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 19 (PTI) Senior CPI(M) leader T M Thomas Isaac has criticised the UDF government over the police raid at a private Malayalam TV channel in connection with the controversy surrounding the failed visit of Lionel Messi-led Argentina football team to Keralam, questioning the GST basis cited in the case.
In a Facebook post on Friday, the former minister said Chief Minister V D Satheesan, who also holds the Finance portfolio, had said that a GST fraud had been established in the Messi visit case.
Questioning the basis of the alleged GST irregularity, Isaac said the tax was applicable on the “supply” of services to be provided by the Argentina Football Association (AFA), and that GST was being levied on the advance payments on the assumption that the supply would take place in the future.
According to Isaac, the channel paid Rs 78.2 crore to AFA on June 6, 2025, attracting Rs 14.1 crore as tax on the advance. A second advance of Rs 47.8 crore was paid on October 15, attracting another Rs 8.6 crore in tax, taking the total tax liability to Rs 22.68 crore.
However, he argued that the issue no longer had validity as it became clear by the end of October 2025 that Messi would not be visiting Keralam and, consequently, the contracted service would not take place.
“If GST had already been collected on the advance as reverse charge for the service, that amount should also be returned to the channel,” he said, adding that the tax was not on the advance itself but on the service AFA was to provide.
Isaac termed the conclusions of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which investigates the matter, as “utterly foolish”, alleging that publicly available information was being presented as major findings to intimidate people.
He said the SIT might not necessarily have expertise in GST laws, but the GST department certainly had knowledge of the matter, and questioned why it was allegedly supporting such action.
Isaac also alleged that the GST system was being used to intimidate entrepreneurs and traders, and urged the business community to protest against what he described as “arbitrary tax intervention”.
He further criticised the government, saying Satheesan had come to power promising tax collection without causing hardship, but was now using tax collection as “a crude weapon”.
Meanwhile, the ruling Congress on Saturday stepped up its attack against Anto Augustine, the managing director of the television channel, who was arrested for allegedly possessing liquor above the permissible limit during a recent raid at his ancestral home in Wayanad by the SIT probing the Messi visit row.
State Health Minister K Muraleedharan said journalism cannot be used as a cover for fraud.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the law enforcement action against Augustine should not be portrayed as an attack on media freedom.
He also satirically remarked that Augustine had stored “more liquor than Bevco” (Kerala State Beverages Corporation) at his premises.
The Kerala Police on Wednesday searched the Kochi headquarters of the Malayalam news channel and premises linked to its promoters as part of a probe into alleged financial irregularities surrounding the failed Lionel Messi-Argentina football event in the state, triggering a political row over the action.
The searches, conducted at five locations in Kochi and Wayanad, including the office of RBC, the residences of its promoters, the Augustine brothers, and their ancestral home in Wayanad, were carried out on the basis of court-issued warrants, police said.
Augustine was arrested on Thursday after the Special Investigation Team found liquor bottles during the raid at his ancestral house.
The SIT handed over the seized liquor to the Excise Department, which subsequently registered a case and arrested Augustine. PTI LGK ROH
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