Delhi, 26 December (H.S.): The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Centre to file a detailed response to a petition seeking a reduction in goods and services tax on air purifiers in view of the worsening air quality in the national capital.

A vacation bench of Justices Vikas Mahajan and Vinod Kumar granted 10 days’ time to the central government to submit its reply and listed the matter for further hearing on January 9.

The court was informed by the Centre’s counsel that meetings of the GST Council are required to be held physically and cannot be convened through video conferencing. Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, sought time to place a detailed reply on record.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation seeking directions to the Centre to classify air purifiers as medical devices and bring them under the five per cent GST slab. At present, air purifiers attract 18 per cent tax.

The petition, filed by advocate Kapil Madan, stated that air purifiers cannot be treated as luxury items in view of the extreme emergency caused by severe air pollution in Delhi.

Earlier, on December 24, the High Court had directed the GST Council to convene a meeting at the earliest to consider reducing or abolishing GST on air purifiers. The matter was listed on Friday to inform the court about the feasibility of convening the Council meeting and whether it could be held virtually if a physical meeting was not possible.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar