The Delhi High Court dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking lower Goods and Service Tax (GST) on sanitizers and Masks.
The PIL filed before the court prayed for the reduction in the GST on alcohol-based sanitisers from 18% to either 12% or 5%.
The petitioners have placed on record an Office Memorandum dated 1st July, 2020 issued by the respondents wherein it has been stated that inclusion of masks and sanitisers under the Act is not being continued as there were no longer any adverse reports from States and Union Territories regarding availability and price of these commodities.
The government, represented by Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, however, said the government will monitor the situation carefully and take remedial action, if required.
The division bench headed by Chief Justice, D.N. Patel while dismissing the PIL held that face masks and alcohol-based sanitizers are now easily available, and hence there is no need to regulate their supplies.
“We see no reason to issue mandamus and direct the respondents to extend the notification dated 13th March, 2020, or to include the masks and sanitizers as ‘essential commodities’ under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955,” Chief Justice Prateek Jalan said in the judgment.
The Court further said that the rate of tax cannot be challenged in a Court of law unless it is abundantly confiscatory in nature. In the facts of the present case, nothing has been argued out about how the present rate of GST is confiscatory in law. Merely, because this petitioner feels that the GST rate applied on masks and sanitizers is excessive, this cannot be a reason for issuing a writ of mandamus and directing the respondents to reduce tax on the said commodities.
The court also noted that the government has removed face masks and alcohol-based sanitizers from under the essential commodities category and is not regulating their prices anymore.
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