NEW DELHI: The Centre has opposed in the Delhi High Court a PIL seeking directions to classify air purifiers as “medical devices” and reduce the GST rates on those, saying judicial intervention in matters pertaining to the tax are constitutionally impermissible. The Centre said it is a settled law that courts do not substitute themselves for constitutionally-designated decision makers, particularly in matters involving economic policy and fiscal structuring.
The government made the submissions in an affidavit filed before the court while “firmly opposing” a PIL seeking reduction of GST on the air purifiers. Placing its stand on record, the Centre said that the GST Council, “constituted under Article 279A of the Constitution, is an instrument of cooperative federalism comprising the Union and all States, and is the sole body empowered to recommend GST rates, exemptions and classifications.”
It claimed that any court-mandated direction to alter GST rates or compel the Council to deliberate on a specific issue would violate the doctrine of separation of powers and undermine the carefully balanced federal structure. The air purifiers are correctly classified under HSN Code 8421 as ‘filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids or gases’ attract a standard GST rate of 18%, the affidavit claimed.
“Medical devices, on the other hand, fall under HSN headings 9018 to 9022 and presently attract a concessional 5 per cent rate pursuant to GST rationalisation undertaken by the Council in its 56th meeting.
The petitioner’s attempt to link regulatory classification under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act with GST rate determination is legally misconceived,” it claimed. It added that notification of a product as a ‘medical device’ under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act or the Medical Device Rules merely brings it within a regulatory framework and has no automatic bearing on GST rates, “which are governed by a distinct constitutional and statutory regime”. The plea is listed for hearing on Friday before a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia.
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