KSK Secures Supreme Court Victory for Hamdard; Rooh Afza Classified as ‘Fruit Drink’
King Stubb & Kasiva (KSK) successfully represented Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories before the Supreme Court of India in a significant VAT classification dispute concerning its flagship product, Sharbat Rooh Afza, under the Uttar Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2008.
In a reportable judgment (2026 INSC 195), a Bench comprising Hon’ble Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan set aside the decision of the Allahabad High Court and held that Rooh Afza is classifiable as a “fruit drink” under Entry 103 of Schedule II (Part A), attracting VAT at the concessional rate of 4% instead of 12.5% under the residuary entry for the period 2008–2012.
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The Court ruled that regulatory or licensing classification cannot control or curtail the interpretation of a fiscal entry. It further held that the Revenue has failed to discharge further held that the burden lies on the Revenue to justify classification under a residuary entry, which was not discharged in the present case. Lastly, the Court held that resort to the residuary entry is impermissible where classification under a specific entry is reasonably and sustainably possible.
Senior Advocate Arvind Datar appeared for Hamdard, briefed by the KSK team comprising Aditya Bhattacharya (Partner), Vipin Upadhyay (Partner), Simran Tandon (Associate Partner), Ritwik Tyagi (Associate), and Akriti Sharma (Associate).
The ruling is an important precedent on VAT/GST classification of traditional beverage concentrates and limits on the use of residuary entries by tax authorities.
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