Protesters Send Sanitary Napkins to PM Narendra Modi for 12 Per Cent GST

Sanitary napkins have been grouped with toys, leather goods, roasted coffee, mobile phones, and processed foods -- all attracting 12 per cent tax.

Chennai, July 22: Protesting the higher rates of taxes on sanitary napkins under new regime of Goods and Services Tax, the activists of Youth Revolutionary Movement staged a protest in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore. Devising a unique way of protest, the activists not only raised slogans against the higher taxes but also sent sanitary napkins to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Sanitary napkins were levied with 5 percent in pre-GST era against 12 Percent after June 30.

Earlier, the decision was challenged in the Delhi High Court by a petitioner. Accepting the plea, the court had asked states and Centre to file their reply.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar sought responses from the Ministry and the Goods and Services Tax Council by November 15 on the public interest litigation, and also asked the petitioner to prepare and supply a brief note on the representations made to the Centre. [Read: GST On Sanitary Pads While Condoms are Tax-Free: Bizarre Tax Rates and Slabs Will Leave You Confused]

Petitioner Zarmina Israr Khan, PhD scholar in African studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, said discriminatory and illegal treatment was being meted out to women by an “unconstitutional and illegal imposition of 12 per cent tax” on sanitary napkins.

The GST, which came into force across the country on July 1, is a unified indirect tax system on various goods and services.

Khan’s lawyer Amit George told the bench that 12 per cent tax makes no distinction between high- and low-cost sanitary napkins.

Seeking the tax to be quashed, George said, “This is quite opposed to differential treatment given to various goods, such as footwear, on the basis of their retail sale price. Sanitary napkins are essential for a woman’s right to live with dignity and freedom, and for the protection of her overall health.”

The petitioner pleaded for nil tax, or a reduced one, pointing out that there are certain items exempted under the GST sytem so as not to burden consumers, including “make-up items, plastic and glass bangles, hearing aids, bags, and material used in religious rituals, and contraceptives”.

Sanitary napkins have been grouped with toys, leather goods, roasted coffee, mobile phones, and processed foods — all attracting 12 per cent tax.

(With inputs from agencies)