The Union Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee today stressed for culmination of ongoing discussions on goods and services tax ,GST,legislation for its early introduction in Parliament. He said the proposed Constitutional amendment bill is under discussion for the last four years and it is important to meet the time lines. The proposed date for its implementation is 1st of April next year.Addressing the empowered group of state finance ministers in New Delhi this evening he said the Amendment is only an enabling provision and does not prohibit from continuing the dialogue on rates and other issues related to GST. He assured that the Joint Working Group set up to draft the Constitutional Amendments will take care of the concerns of the states while preparing the revised draft.Mr. Mukherjee cleared the doubts of the state finance ministers regarding their fiscal autonomy, on the role of the GST Council and the reported veto power assigned to the Union Finance Minister as the Chairperson of the Council. He emphasized that Article 265 of the Constitution clearly states that no tax can be levied or collected except by authority of law.Thus, the primacy of the Legislature in the area of taxation is supreme and inalienable and the proposed draft did not seek to disturb this in any manner.Highlighting the importance of the GST Council, Shri Mukherjee said that the collective wisdom of the Council would be a valuable resource in benchmarking rates, exemptions, thresholds and other key parameters for both the Centre and the States.