The Delhi High Court has asked the GST Council to meet urgently to consider reducing GST on air purifiers from 18% to 5% amid the severe air pollution crisis. The Court said lowering tax is the minimum relief when citizens are struggling to breathe clean air.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council should urgently hold a meeting to consider whether air purifiers should be classified as a “medical device” and whether the GST on them should be reduced from the current 18 percent to 5 percent.
The observation was made while hearing a petition filed by advocate Kapil Madan against the Union of India and other authorities.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela took note of the worsening air quality in Delhi and surrounding regions and stressed that the issue could not be ignored any longer.
The Court also referred to a report submitted by a Parliamentary Standing Committee in December, which had recommended that the government should take a sympathetic view and either abolish GST or reduce the tax rate on air purifiers and HEPA filters used in them.
Taking into account the seriousness of the air pollution crisis, the Court directed that the matter be placed before the GST Council at the earliest possible time.
The Bench said,
“We direct that the said issue of lowering or removing the GST shall be considered by the GST council at the earliest. We are informed that GST council is a pan-India body and convening a meeting may take some time. However, considering the air quality situation in Delhi and nearby areas, we find it appropriate for the GST council to meet at the earliest.”
The Court further asked the government’s counsel to obtain clear instructions on how soon such a meeting of the GST Council could be convened.
The Bench added,
“List this case on December 26, allowing the counsel for R2 to seek instruction about how early the council can meet. We may also observe that if the meeting of the council is not possible physically, the same may be considered to be done through video conferencing.”
The petition before the Court seeks directions to classify air purifiers as “medical devices” and to reduce the GST imposed on them from 18 percent to 5 percent.
Advocate Kapil Madan, who filed the plea, argued that air purifiers cannot be treated as luxury items in a city facing a severe air pollution emergency. According to the petition, the hazardous air quality in Delhi has made air purifiers a basic necessity rather than a discretionary purchase.
The plea states that the high GST rate makes air purifiers unaffordable for a large section of the population.
It says,
“The imposition of GST at the highest slab upon air-purifiers a device that has become indispensable for securing minimally safe indoor air renders such equipment financially inaccessible to large segments of the population and thereby inflicts an arbitrary, unreasonable, and constitutionally impermissible burden.”
The petition also relies on a 2020 notification issued by the Central Government to argue that air purifiers meet the legal definition of a medical device. It explains that air purifiers play a preventive and life-saving role, especially during severe pollution episodes.
In this context, the petition says,
“Air-purifiers perform a critical medical-device function by enabling safe respiration and mitigating life-threatening exposures, placing them squarely within the preventive and physiological-support purposes.”
On this basis, the petition contends that charging 18 percent GST on air purifiers is arbitrary and disproportionate. It further argues that similar medical devices are taxed at a lower rate and there is no valid reason to treat air purifiers differently.
The plea states,
“Continued imposition of 18% GST on air-purifiers, despite their medically recognised role in crisis situations and their functional equivalence to devices taxed at 5%, constitutes an arbitrary and unreasonable fiscal classification. Such differential treatment fails the constitutional test of intelligible differentia and bears no rational nexus to public-health objectives, thereby warranting judicial intervention.”
During the forenoon hearing, the Bench made strong oral observations highlighting the basic right of citizens to breathe clean air. The Court remarked that if the authorities are unable to provide clean air, then at the very least, they should reduce the tax burden on air purifiers.
The Bench said,
“This is the minimum that you can do. Every citizen requires fresh air. If you can’t do it, minimum you can do is reduce GST. Give an exemption for 15 days on a temporary basis. Treat this situation as an emergency. Take instructions and tell us now. Tell us now when will you come back with instruction. We will place it during vacation but only for compliance. How many times do you breath in a day? 21,000 times. Just calculate the harm you are doing to yourself. We want instructions at 2:30. We will keep it for compliance during vacations.”
When the case was taken up again at 2:30 pm, the counsel appearing for the Central Government informed the Court that the GST rate could only be changed by the GST Council, which includes representatives from all States.
The counsel said,
“This is a policy decision which is to be taken by the GST council. It comprises members from all the states. For me to give any concrete instructions would amount to my contacting each and every state official.”
The Court then asked the government counsel whether any timeline had been indicated for holding such a meeting.
“They are not telling you when such a meeting will be held?”
the Court asked. In response, the lawyer said,
“The meeting has to be called by the Finance Minister.”
Senior Advocate Arvind Nayar, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the government already has the power to reduce GST on air purifiers by including them under a February 2020 notification. The Court responded by saying that such a step would require directions to be issued to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The Bench observed,
“We would then have to direct the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to issue such a notification and based on that the GST council will consider it. What we propose to do is, we will record your concern and we will ask the nodal officer to place this before the GST council and they will come forth seeking instructions from the council by Monday or day after tomorrow.”
The petition in the case has been filed through advocates Gurmukh Singh Arora and Rahul Matharu. The matter will now be listed on December 26 for further compliance and to ascertain how soon the GST Council can take up the issue in view of the ongoing air pollution emergency.
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