HC grants GST Waiver on import of Expensive Drug for rare Disease

The High Court has given an order waiving the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the mother of a three-year-old child on an imported medicine used to treat the condition, whose child is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The medicine, valued at Rs.6.07 lakh each bottle, is essential for the child’s treatment.

The petitioner, a Mavelikkara local, sought the high court seeking an exemption from paying the 12% GST (Rs.65,000) per bottle of ‘Risdiplam’, a drug imported from Switzerland. The petitioner stated that, based on her doctor’s instructions, she needed to buy the medicine for the sake of her child’s life.

Her child required many bottles of Risdiplam, which was too expensive for an ordinary citizen like the petitioner. As a result, she submitted a representation to the Union Finance Minister, seeking that Risdiplam be excluded from GST so that the waived amount might be used to meet the fundamental necessities of herself and her kid.

Although the Union Finance Minister has the right to grant an exemption, none has been granted thus far. As a result, the petitioner filed a plea with the high court, requesting that the Union finance minister issue orders declaring her eligible for GST exemption on Risdiplam, both for amounts previously paid and for amounts payable in the future. In addition, she requested that the GST department in Kerala reimburse the GST she had previously paid on the medicine transaction.

While considering the petition, Justice P. Gopinath declared that the petitioner was allowed to purchase the drug Risdiplam (brand name Evrysdi) without paying GST and issued an order accordingly. The court noted that this arrangement should be provisional and that the pharmaceutical suppliers could appeal to the court for additional adjustments or directives if they encountered any issues in giving the drug to the petitioner.