GST Rate of 5% Applicable on Flavoured Milk: SC Dismisses Department’s SLP

The present Special Leave Petition (SLP) is being filed by the Union of India (petitioner) against M/s Heritage Foods Limited and another party (respondent) in the Supreme Court of India. This case was first raised in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Amravati in three separate writ petitions (WP No. 27108/2021, 22055/2021, and 21998/2021). These decisions were all given on January 29, 2025.

The case was heard on July 17, 2025, in the Supreme Court of India by judges of the Supreme Court named Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pankaj Mithal and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Prasanna B. Varale.

The main question in this case is under which GST category should flavoured milk be taxed? There are two possible classifications being discussed:

• As Item 04030000 (which covers milk and milk products), taxable at 5% GST
• Or as Item 9930 (which is for food and beverage services), taxable at 12% GST

Earlier, when the case was served in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, the judges ruled that flavoured milk should be classified under Item 04030000, and therefore only 5% GST should be applied. However, the Union of India (government) was not satisfied with the decision and hence brought the case to the Supreme Court, seeking special permission to appeal. The Supreme Court examined all the facts that there was a delay of 30 days in filing the SLP by the Union of India. The Union of India asked the Court to excuse this delay by filing an application (IA No. 157639/2025) for condonation of delay.

The Court allowed this application. However, once the Court looked into the issue, it noted that this very same issue (how to classify flavoured milk for tax purposes) had already been decided by the Supreme Court in another case, SLP(C) (D) No. 17602 of 2025, which was dismissed on May 09, 2025. That means the Court had already refused to hear an appeal in a similar matter and had let the High Court’s decision stand. Because of that earlier dismissal, the Supreme Court in this case decided to also dismiss the current petitions, since the issue was already settled.

The delay in filing the case was accepted, so the petition was technically admitted. However, the Court found that the issue had already been resolved in a previous case. Therefore, the Supreme Court dismissed this new petition as well. Any other pending applications related to the case were also closed.