The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought responses from the central government on a plea concerning Goods and Services Tax (GST) concessions on the purchase of vehicles for persons with disabilities.
Currently, this benefit is only extended to persons with orthopaedic physical disabilities having a benchmark disability of 40 percent or more. The plea, filed by the All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB), points to the exclusion of persons with visual impairment, or those with blindness and low vision.
AICB is being represented by visually-impaired lawyers, who founded disability rights non-profit Mission Accessibility.
Persons with visual disabilities do not get subsidies on purchasing vehicles as of now, but do get concessions for some modes of public transportation, such as up to 75 percent while travelling on trains.
A two-judge bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued notice on the plea by Mission Accessibility. The case will be heard next on August 11.
Besides Mission Accessibility founders, advocates, also filed the plea before the court in June this year.
Current concessions
Currently, the Centre has extended the benefit of subsidised modified vehicles only to persons with orthopedic disabilities having a benchmark disability of 40% or more. Moreover, only four-wheeler vehicles fall under this concession.
The scheme was brought in by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, and the Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, through a series of notifications.
However, in the All India Confederation of the Blind vs Union of India case, the body that promotes the rights of blind people approached the Delhi HC, arguing that persons with visual impairments have been excluded from the concessional GST scheme for the purchase of motor vehicles.
A “benchmark disability” refers to having at least 40 percent disability of any type recognised in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. The Act recognises 21 types of disabilities.
What courts have previously ruled
In December 2020, the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, in the Shri Shibu SV vs. The Department of Heavy Industry case, ruled that the concession given by the Ministry of Finance, only extends benefits to certain types of disabilities, adding that this violates equal treatment of persons with disabilities (PwDs).
A year later, in December 2021, the Madras High Court passed two orders, where recommendations of the Committee under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, also ruled that when it comes to extending the benefits of GST concessions, while purchasing motor vehicles, all categories of disabilities should be able to enjoy the same.
The current plea
Citing the constitutional rights to equality, life and the freedom of movement, under Articles 14, 21 and 19(1)(d), the plea said that such differential treatment of two different disabilities, creates an unreasonable and discriminatory classification among persons with benchmark disabilities.
It also undermines the guarantee of equality before the law under Article 14, the plea said while adding that denying mobility-related tax relief to visually-impaired persons infringes their fundamental right to move freely throughout the territory of India and impairs their right to live with dignity.
Emphasising that there is no “hierarchy among disabilities” under the 2016 Act, which advocates for an inclusive and uniform approach, the plea adds that in light of the “continued inaction and the unjustified exclusion of a large segment of PwDs from a critical welfare benefit”, they have been constrained to approach the court.
