The Kerala High Court has sought a reply from the GST Council on why petrol and diesel cannot be brought under the purview of GST. A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday directed the central government and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to explain the reasons for not including petrol and diesel in the purview of GST.
The court asked why petroleum products cannot come under GST. A bench headed by Chief Justice S Manikumar gave this direction on a writ petition filed by an organization called the Kerala Pradesh Gandhi Darshanavadi. In this petition, the decision of the GST Council has been challenged, in which it has been decided not to include petroleum products under GST.
The petitioner pointed out that it was recently decided in the meeting of the GST Council that it is not appropriate to include petrol and diesel under GST at this stage.
Let us inform you that the meeting of the council was held to consider the demand to bring petroleum products under GST. But the council refused to include it.
According to reports, during the hearing of the case, advocate Arun B. Varghese contended that the GST Council had not given any valid reason for rejecting the petitioner's request. The council did not even brainstorm on it.
The current situation was mature enough to take a decision in this regard as the price of petrol and diesel was increasing day by day and it had a serious impact on the economy. In fact, those who did not even use petrol and diesel are equally affected by the price hike of oil.
According to the petitioner, due to different rates of tax levied by the state governments in different states of the country, different prices were being charged for petrol and diesel. In fact, it was an obstacle in achieving a harmonious national market as envisaged under Article 279A (6) of the Constitution. State and central taxes constitute at least 60 per cent of the cost of a litre of petrol or diesel, it said.
