NEW DELHI, Dec 26 — The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the central government to file a detailed reply to a petition seeking a reduction in goods and services tax on air purifiers, citing worsening air pollution in the national capital.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikas Mahajan and Vinod Kumar granted the Centre 10 days to submit its response and listed the matter for further hearing on Jan. 9.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation seeking directions to classify air purifiers as medical devices and bring them under the 5% GST slab. Air purifiers are currently taxed at 18%.
Additional Solicitor General N. Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, sought time to file a reply. He informed the court that meetings of the GST Council are required to be held physically and cannot be conducted through video conferencing.
The bench had earlier asked the Centre to clarify when the GST Council could meet and whether a virtual meeting was possible.
On Dec. 24, the court had directed the GST Council to convene at the earliest to consider reducing or removing GST on air purifiers in view of public health concerns.
The petition, filed by advocate Kapil Madan, said air purifiers cannot be treated as luxury items given what it described as an “extreme emergency crisis” caused by severe air pollution in Delhi.
