Case-Laws – GST – Highlights – The High Court held that the impugned Press Release by the Ministry of Finance, purporting to direct judicial and quasi-judicial authorities to classify all alcohol-based hand sanitizers as “disinfectants” attracting 18% GST rate, is invalid. The Court ruled that the executive cannot transgress on the functions within the exclusive province of judicial or quasi-judicial authorities. The issue of product classification falls within the domain of judicial and quasi-judicial bodies created under the Act, who must exercise their powers independently without executive interference. The Press Release virtually expressed a firm view on classifying hand sanitizers as “disinfectants” rather than “medicaments,” urging authorities to levy 18% tax, thereby influencing their independent decision-making. Consequently, the Court set aside the Press Release to enable unbiased adjudication by judicial and quasi-judicial authorities on product classification and applicable tax rates. – TMI Updates – Highlights, quick notes, marquee, annotation, news, alerts Tax Management India – taxmanagementindia – taxmanagement – taxmanagementindia.com – TMI – TaxTMI – TMITax
= = = = = = = =
Plain text (Extract) only
For full text:-Visit the Source
= = = = = = = =