‘Will open Pandora’s box’: Centre opposes plea seeking reduction of GST on air purifiers

The Union government told the Delhi High Court on Friday that reducing the Goods and Services Tax on air purifiers to 5% from 18% without following due process will open up a “Pandora’s box”, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Justices Vikas Mahajan and Vinod Kumar was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Kapil Madan, seeking directions to categorise air purifiers as a “medical device” and lower the tax levied on them.

On Wednesday, the court directed the GST Council to convene an urgent meeting and consider lowering the levies on air purifiers in view of the high levels of pollution in Delhi and the surrounding areas.

During the hearing on Friday, Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, representing the Union government, said that the matter was being examined at the highest level, Bar and Bench reported.

Seeking more time to give a measured response, he said that the Union government will inform in its counter-affidavit when a GST Council meeting can be scheduled.

Venkataraman also said that there was a legislative process to deal with recommendations made in parliamentary standing committee reports, as well as how GST Council meetings deliberate on proposals, The Indian Express reported.

“How can this process be scuttled through a court process?” the newspaper quoted the additional solicitor general as asking.

He said that the GST Council was a constitutional body. “It is a federal levy,” Bar and Bench quoted Venkataraman as saying. “All states and Union ministry has to argue... If anything has to be voted, it can only be done physically...”

However, Madan said that the residents of the national capital will continue to suffer if a decision is not taken promptly, adding that it was a simple process. “Not only is the clean air taxed, it is being taxed wrongly,” the legal news portal quoted him as saying.

In response, the court also noted that these decisions may have to wait until the GST Council meets.

During the proceedings, the additional solicitor general also asked whether a public interest litigation could be filed in the matter, stating that the petitioner could instead make a representation before the Union government.

“We want to know who is behind this writ petition,” Bar and Bench quoted Venkataraman as saying. “It is not a PIL at all.”

Madan, however, opposed the argument, stating that his petition was not “adversarial”.

“Maybe the learned counsel for UOI [Union of India] has not seen the notification by which these slabs have been imposed,” Bar and Bench quoted the advocate as saying. “On a bare reading of this notification itself, I will be able to demonstrate that they are taxing air purifiers under the wrong category.”

The court, on its part, maintained that something should be done to bring down the cost of air purifiers in Delhi in light of the air pollution crisis in the national capital.

“Why can’t it be done?” the bench asked. “Do whatever you have to do. Right now, an air purifier costs Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. Why not bring down the GST to a reasonable level where even a common man can afford an air purifier?”

The court directed the Union government to file its counter-affidavit within ten days and listed the matter for further hearing on January 9. The petitioner has also been allowed to file his rejoinder by then.

During the last hearing on Wednesday, the court criticised the Union government for its failure to tackle air pollution in the national capital, saying that the least it could do was to reduce the GST on air purifiers during such an “emergency”.

“How many times do you breathe in a day?” the bench had said at the time. “21,000 times. Just calculate the harm you are doing to yourself.”

AQI in Delhi

The hearing came as the Air Quality Index in the national capital plunged again to the “very poor” category, after improving earlier this week.

Delhi’s average AQI stood at 336 at 5.05 pm, according to data from the Sameer application, which provides hourly updates from the Central Pollution Control Board.

An index value between 301 and 400 indicates “very poor” air. Between 401 and 450 indicates “severe” air pollution, while anything above the 450 threshold is termed “severe plus”.

On Wednesday, the Commission for Air Quality Management revoked Stage 4 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

The commission, however, said that air quality forecasts provided by the India Meteorological Department and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology suggest that in the coming days, the air quality index may increase because of slower winds.

GRAP is a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the Delhi-NCR region. The commission is a statutory body formed in 2020 to address pollution in the NCR and adjoining areas.

Air quality deteriorates sharply in the winter months in Delhi, which is often ranked the world’s most polluted capital. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, vehicular pollution, along with the lighting of firecrackers during Diwali, falling temperatures, decreased wind speeds and emissions from industries and coal-fired plants contribute to the problem.