SC strikes down levy of GST on ocean freight in CIF contracts

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court held that the recommendations of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council do not bind the Union or the States, that the Parliament and the State legislatures possess simultaneous power to legislate on GST and that the Government while exercising its rule-making power under the provisions of the CGST Act and IGST Act is bound by the recommendations of the GST Council. In practical terms, this means that henceforth all the constituents of the GST Council will have to strive harder to achieve consensus.  

The matter before the Court was the appeal against the decision

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