As Delhi Battles Air Pollution , Delhi High Court Urges GST Council To Abolish Tax On Air Purifiers

Picture : @ani_digital/X

The Delhi high court has  directed the GST Council to meet at the earliest and consider lowering or abolishing goods and services tax on air purifiers in view of worsening air quality in the national capital.

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela listed the matter for December 26 before a vacation bench to enable the counsel for the central authorities to inform the court as to when can the council meet and take an appropriate decision on the issue.

The court said if the meeting of the council is not possible physically, it may be considered to convene the same through video conferencing.

As the counsel for the Centre informed the court that GST council is a Pan India body and convening the meeting for any such matter may take some time, the bench said, “we are conscious of the configuration or constitution of GST council and also appreciate convening the meeting may take time.”

“However, taking into consideration the air quality situation in the state of Delhi and nearby areas, we find it appropriate to require the council to meet at the earliest,” the bench added and issued notice to the Centre on the petition.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the central government to classify air purifiers as “medical devices” and reduce the goods and services tax (GST) to the five per cent slab. Air purifiers are currently taxed at 18 per cent.

The petition by advocate Kapil Madan said that purifiers cannot be treated as luxury items in view of the “extreme emergency crisis” caused by severe air pollution in Delhi.