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The court’s question came after the Centre’s counsel said the GST Council is a constitutional body and it is no longer a unilateral tax of Delhi. It is a federal levy across India, so all 30 states and union territories have to agree to it and include the Union Finance Minister as its member.
Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, representing the Centre, said voting has to be done physically and it cannot be done through video conferencing and said the government will file an extremely detailed counter affidavit in the matter.
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A vacation bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan and Justice Vinod Kumar gave 10 days to the Central government to file its reply on the plea and listed the matter for further hearing on January 9.
“But the court’s concern was why the Goods and Services Tax (GST) should not be reduced from 18% to 5%, keeping in mind the situation in Delhi and surrounding areas.
“You can do whatever you want and find a way out. The price range starts from Rs 10-12,000 and goes up to Rs 60,000, it is beyond the reach of the common man. Why not bring it down to a reasonable level which is within the reach of the common man,” the bench said.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction 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 currently attract 18% tax.
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The plea by lawyer Kapil Madan said the purifiers cannot be treated as luxury items in view of the “extreme emergency” caused by severe air pollution in Delhi.
During the hearing, the bench told the petitioner that the court was with him in the previous hearing also as the issue raised is such that “everyone is concerned”.
Agreeing, the ASG said, “Our hearts are definitely there, there is no doubt about that.”
He said that the matter was discussed at the highest level including the Finance Minister and they had an urgent meeting on Thursday, but there are some concerns regarding this writ petition.
The law officer said that if the petitioner wants this petition to be treated as a representation by the GST Council through the Secretariat, the court can pass the order today itself.
If the petitioner wishes to oppose the petition, we intend to file a very detailed counter affidavit. “This is a loaded petition and we really want to know who is behind it,” he said.
“The two prayers have nothing to do with GST. The Health Ministry is not a party to the petition and the prayers have been sought in connection with…”
“Who wants a monopoly in air purifiers, we don’t know. We are really concerned about it. Only on December 12, 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee passed the resolution to look into the matter of GST, but the MoEF is not a party to it. The Standing Committee is a constitutional branch under the legislature and there is a process involved and how can this process be circumvented,” the ASG submitted.
They urged the court to grant some time to file the counter affidavit as they were not able to respond in two days’ time.
“It is possible that the counsel appearing for the Center may not have seen the notification by which the slabs have been imposed… I would say that on reading the notification, I will explain to the court that they are imposing tax on air purifiers in the wrong slab,” petitioner Madan said.
On this the bench said that today the court cannot say without asking for counter affidavit that they are levying tax under the wrong slab. It said the issue required deliberation and let it go before the roster bench.
Madan read the relevant notification and said, “I have shown an entry which talks about breathing devices. All medical devices fall in Schedule 1”.
The court asked the ASG what is the difficulty in holding the GST Council meeting and then they can take a decision.
“This will open a Pandora’s box. The committee has given us some recommendations. That is the process. We are not saying anything at the moment whether we will make cuts or not. I am not giving any commitment… We are scared of the constitutional concept. Let it be converted into representation and sent to the council,” the ASG said. On December 24, the court had directed the GST Council to meet as soon as possible and consider reducing or eliminating GST on air purifiers.
The matter was listed today to inform the court as to when the council can meet and whether it is possible for the council to meet virtually if not physically.
Earlier, the high court had expressed displeasure over authorities doing nothing to exempt air purifiers from taxes in this “emergency situation” when the air quality index (AQI) is ‘very poor’.
The court had taken note of the petitioner’s contention that air purifiers qualify as medical devices as per the February 2020 notification issued under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
The petitioner further said that five percent GST is being imposed on medical equipment while 18 percent GST is being imposed on air purifiers. In view of the continuously deteriorating air condition in Delhi and surrounding areas, he demanded instructions to the officials to consider imposing five percent duty on air purifiers also.