Karnataka High Court backs simultaneous levy of excise duty, GST on tobacco

Karnataka High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of the imposition of central excise duty, national calamity contingent duty (NCCD) simultaneously with the goods and services tax (GST) on tobacco and tobacco products.

A two-judge bench, comprising justice Alok Aradhe and justice S Vishwajith Shetty, basically upheld the earlier order by a single bench of the court in this regard.

The court ruled that the taxable event for levy of excise duty would be manufacturing of tobacco and the tobacco products and for levy of GST, the taxable event would be supply of tobacco and tobacco products.

V.S. Products, a