New Delhi : The Centre on Friday opposed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking reduction in GST on air purifiers and their classification as “medical devices” before the Delhi High Court. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) N Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, told a bench comprising Justice Vikas Mahajan and Justice Vinod Kumar that two days time is not enough to react to this petition and urged the court to grant it time to file a detailed affidavit on the matter.
The ASG further told the court that there is a process involved for GST cut and this process cannot be scuttled, explaining that the GST Council is a constitutional body and it is a federal levy. The High Court, while hearing the matter on December 24, had asked the GST Council to hold a meeting urgently on the issue of GST cut on air purifiers amid worsening air pollution in the national capital had asked the GST council to consider holding an urgent meeting and take a decision on the issue.
The High Court observed that the right to a pollution-free environment was an intrinsic component of the right to life under Article 21, as enunciated in decisions such as Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar and MC Mehta v. Union of India. Fiscal policy, though ordinarily within the legislative and executive domain, was not immune from judicial review where it manifested arbitrariness or disproportionately impacts fundamental rights, it added.
The Division Bench further recorded that medical devices covered under the 2020 notification attract a GST rate of 5 per cent, whereas air purifiers continue to be taxed at 18 per cent, notwithstanding their comparable functional outcomes. It applied the doctrine of reasonable classification, noting that differential treatment between similarly situated goods may require closer scrutiny.
The Division Bench directed the GST Council to arrive at a reasoned decision at the earliest and listed the matter for further hearing on December 26. The petition assailed the prevailing GST regime on air purifiers as arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, contending that the State has a positive obligation to safeguard the right to health and clean air.
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