'Treat This As Emergency': Delhi HC Pushes For GST Concessions On Air Purifiers

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court (HC) on Wednesday stated that if the central government cannot provide clean air for citizens to breathe, then the least it can do is to reduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on air purifiers which are currently taxed at 18 per cent. The statement was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Kapil Madan on declaring air purifiers as medical devices and reducing the GST applied on it to 5%.

Expressing displeasure over the fact that nothing has been done on the issue yet, the high court said that every citizen requires fresh air. It added, “If you can't do it, minimum you can do is reduce GST.”

‘Calculate The Harm In Taking 21,000 Breaths A Day’

As the government said that it can again discuss the matter “after vacation”, the Justice Gedela rebuked, “What is the citizen supposed to do for 15 days?”

He added, “Give an exemption for 15 days on a temporary basis. Treat this situation as an emergency. Take instructions and tell us now. Tell us now when will you come back with instruction. We will place it during vacation but only for compliance.”

“How many times do you breath in a day? 21,000 times. Just calculate the harm you are doing to yourself,” the court stated, asking the government counsel to take instructions over the issue and report back to the Court at 2:30 pm today (Wednesday).

‘Air Purifiers Can’t Be Considered Luxury': PIL

The PIL filed by advocate Kapil Madan had argued that air purifiers cannot be treated as luxury due to the level of air pollution in Delhi.

“The imposition of GST at the highest slab upon air purifiers a device that has become indispensable for securing minimally safe indoor air renders such equipment financially inaccessible to large segments of the population and thereby inflicts an arbitrary, unreasonable, and constitutionally impermissible burden,” Madan stated.

His petition stated, “Air purifiers perform a critical medical-device function by enabling safe respiration and mitigating life-threatening exposures, placing them squarely within the preventive and physiological-support purposes.”

It added that the continued imposition of 18% GST on air purifiers constitutes an arbitrary and unreasonable fiscal classification.

Delhi Among 10 Most Polluted Cities In World

According to data accessed from IQAir at around 2 pm today, Delhi is the sixth most polluted cities in the world. The only other Indian city to feature in the list of top 10 most polluted cities in the world is Kolkata.

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