Delhi High Court urges Centre to drop GST on imports of oxygen concentrators
The Hindu
Plea filed by a senior citizen who got a device from abroad for personal use
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to drop the GST charged on imports of oxygen concentrators for personal use, just as it has done for donated COVID-19 relief material imports. A High Court Bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Talwant Singh requested Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, who appeared for the Department of Revenue, to place its order before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and listed the matter for Thursday, by when the government is expected to revert with its decision. Hearing a writ petition filed by senior citizen Gurcharan Singh whose nephew had sent him an oxygen concentrator from overseas in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Court said this was ‘a rare writ action’ where a ‘notification issued in the realm of a tax statute has been, inter alia, assailed under Article 21 of the Constitution’ that enshrines the Right to Life and personal liberty.For the first time in a Lok Sabha election, the AIADMK forfeited deposits in seven constituencies. For the ruling DMK, the verdict is seen as a popular endorsement of the functioning of its three-year government under Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. The outcome indicates that the BJP, whose Hindutva ideology has all along been considered alien to the political ethos of Tamil Nadu
Cardiologist and MP-elect from Bengaluru Rural C.N. Manjunath, who contested from the BJP and defeated three-time Congress MP D.K. Suresh, said he was the “people’s candidate” and that it is their aspiration to see him in the Union Cabinet. In an interview with The Hindu, he claimed his victory was possible because those who were treated at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research became his “ambassadors”.