Niti CEO cites 'Deewar' scene to back tax reforms

NEW DELHI: Goverment's policy think tank Niti Aayog CEO B V R Subrahamanyam on Friday weaved examples - from Amitabh Bacchan's iconic film 'Deewar' and the detention of a pickpocket - to push for complete decriminalisation of 12 offences under the Income Tax Act and resolving them through civil and monetary penalties.

"If you want a pickpocket and he is given life imprisonment, is that the outcome you want? Does it improve that pickpocket from not doing any more pickpocketing, it only becomes a burden on the govt for the rest of his life. Does it deter other pickpockets?" Subrahamanyam said during the release of a working paper which backs decriminalisation of some offences under the Income Tax Act and calls for moving towards trust based governance and compliance culture.

"If the reason for pickpocketing is something else and not it could be something we all remember... Amitabh Bachchan and 'Deewar' for a loaf of bread...," Subhramanyam said while recalling the scene from the 1975 blockbuster. The paper highlights that while the 2025 Act omits several archaic offences, it continues to criminalise 35 actions and omissions across 13 provisions, most of which prescribe mandatory imprisonment.

Applying a jurisprudence-based assessment, the study recommends a decriminalisation roadmap and backed removing imprisonment for minor procedural defaults, restricting criminal sanctions to cases involving fraud or wilful evasion, and enhancing the role of civil and administrative penalties.