The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation petition that challenged the imposition of an 18 percent Goods and Services Tax on subscriptions to online legal research platforms and judicial databases. The petitioner, a practicing advocate, had argued that classifying legal research databases under the highest tax bracket impedes access to justice, burdens junior legal practitioners, and unfairly taxes essential tools of the legal profession.
A division bench rejected the challenge, stating that tax classification, fiscal exemptions, and tariff rates fall squarely within the constitutional policy domain of the Goods and Services Tax Council and Parliament. The judges observed that courts cannot exercise judicial review to rewrite tax rates or dictate fiscal policy unless a statute demonstrates blatant constitutional invalidity or manifest arbitrariness. The bench remarked that commercial digital publishers operate proprietary search engines, electronic indexing tools, and analytical software, rendering the service a value-added commercial product rather than an exempt fundamental government utility.
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Sources:
https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/allahabad-high-court/allahabad-hc-pil-18-percent-gst-legal-research-databases-556124