New Delhi: Delhi High Court has given a strong message to the Central Government regarding the deteriorating air quality of Delhi. The court has clearly said that either the government should provide clean air to the people of the capital, or it should immediately provide relief in the GST levied on essential equipment like air purifiers.
During the hearing held on Wednesday, the court termed air pollution as a public health emergency and said that in the current situation, it is the primary responsibility of the government to provide relief to the citizens. The bench recommended reducing the 18 percent GST on air purifiers. "minimum required steps"told.
High Court’s strict comment
Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said,"This is the minimum you can do. Every citizen needs fresh air. If you can’t do this, at least reduce GST. Treat it like an emergency."
The court asked the central government to assess the loss being caused to about three crore people living in Delhi-NCR. The government was directed to file its reply in this matter by 2:30 pm.
Demand to make air purifier a medical device
This matter came before the court after a petition filed by advocate Kapil Madan. In the petition, there has been a demand to keep air purifiers in the category of ‘medical equipment’ and reduce the GST on them to 5 percent.
The petitioner argues that in the current situation, air purifiers have become necessary to maintain clean air inside the house. But due to 18 percent GST, these are becoming beyond the reach of common people, due to which the citizens are burdened. "undue and constitutionally unacceptable burden" It is falling.
Pollution still dangerous in Delhi-NCR
The air quality in Delhi and surrounding areas currently remains very poor. According to the data released on Wednesday morning, AQI was recorded at 355 in Noida, 349 in Delhi, 316 in Gurugram and 309 in Ghaziabad.
Pictures surfaced from Central Delhi showed dense fog around the duty path and India Gate during the rehearsal of the Republic Day Parade, which further highlighted the seriousness of pollution.
Risk of air pollution linked to deaths
In the last weeks, Delhi’s AQI has reached 441 and before that it had reached 461, which was one of the worst days of the month of December. According to data from the Global Burden of Disease, about 15 percent of the total deaths in Delhi in the year 2023 have been linked to hazardous air quality.
Despite this, there was no concrete discussion on the issue of Delhi smog and pollution in the winter session of Parliament, which ended last Friday.
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