The court emphasized that it is not for the court to determine the fairness of a policy decision, but only to ensure that decisions are taken fairly and in accordance with the law.

M. Sathyanarayanan, J.

1. The present Writ Petition is filed as a 'Public Interest Litigation' by the petitioner/party-in-person, stating among other things, that Goods and Service Tax is based on two parliamentary Acts, namely the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act and the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, for the covered object of “One Nation One Tax” and the said Act came to be passed during April, 2017.

2. The grievance now expressed by the petitioner is that though the main aim of Goods and Service Tax Act, is “One Nation One Tax”, the petrol and diesel having not been brought under the purview/control under the Goods and Service Tax Act and that apart price of per litre of the said fuels also fixed daily and it has reached all time high now, despite the fact that the International market price of crude oil per barrel is very low.

3. The petitioner/party-in-person by drawing the attention of this Court to the averments made in the affidavit filed in support of the petition as well as typed-set of documents and would submit that an exorbitant increase in the selling price of petroleum products, directly affects the common man for the reason that most of the Goods are transported, through road/service transport and any increase in price of the fuel would bound to increase the selling price of the commodities, especially essential commodities and it is high time that the petrol and diesel prices should be brought within the ambit of Goods and Service Tax (GST) and also pointed out in this regard that the petitioner has submitted a representation, dated 16.02.2018 to the respondents and inspite of receipt and acknowledgment, no response is forthcoming and therefore, he is constrained to approach this Court by filing this Writ Petition.

4. Mr.V.Kathirvelu, learned Assistant Solicitor General of India, assisted by Mr.J.Jeyakumar, learned Central Government Standing Counsel, accepts notice on behalf of the respondents 1 to 5 and seeks time to get instructions as to the steps taken to bring the petroleum products within the ambit of Goods and Service Tax.

5. This Court has carefully considered the rival submissions and perused the materials placed on record.

6. The Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (Central Act 12 of 2017) (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'), came to be passed “to make a provision for levy and collection of Tax on intra-State supply of goods or services or both by the Central Government and the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.

7. Section 2(36) of the 'the Act' defines ‘Council', which means "the Goods and Services Tax Council established under Article 279A of the Constitution of India”.

8. Section 9 of the 'the Act' deals with 'Levy and collection' and it is relevant to extract the same:-

“Levy and Collection:- 9 (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-Section (2), there shall be levied a tax called the central goods and services tax on all intra-State supplies of goods or services or both, except on the supply alcoholic liquor for human consumption, on the value determined under Section 15 and at such rates, not exceeding twenty per cent, as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council and collected in such manner as may be prescribed and shall be paid by the taxable person.

(2) The Central tax on the supply of petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas and aviation turbine fuel shall be levied with effect from such date as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council

(3) The Government may, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, specify categories of supply of goods or services or both, the tax on which shall be paid on reverse charge basis by the recipient of such goods or services or both and all the provisions of this Act shall apply to such recipient as if he is the person liable for paying the tax in relation to the supply of such goods or services or both.

(4) The