Delhi High Court questioned the government on increasing pollution that when the situation is like emergency then why 18% GST on air purifiers. The court said that clean air is the right of citizens and purifiers are not a luxury, but a necessity. There has been a demand in the PIL to make GST 5%.
New Delhi. Delhi High Court on Wednesday 24 December put the government in the dock over the increasing pollution in the capital. The court asked, when the air in Delhi is not clean at all and there is an emergency like situation, then why is 18% GST being imposed on air purifiers? Giving advice, the court said that if the government is not able to provide clean air to the public, then it should at least reduce the tax on air purifiers.
The bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gadela said, every citizen in the country has every right to breathe clean air. In such a situation, when the air of Delhi has become polluted, people want to buy more and more air purifiers, so that they can get some relief. But is it appropriate for the government to classify it as a luxury item and impose 18% GST?
In fact, a PIL was filed in the court, demanding that air purifiers be placed in the category of medical devices and the GST on it be reduced from 18% to 5%. The petition also said that due to the severe Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi, air purifiers have become not a luxury item but a necessity. The petitioner said that air purifiers are a must for the elderly, children and sick people with severe AQI. In such a situation, imposing heavy tax on them puts extra burden on the public.