A Single Bench of Rajasthan High Court headed by Justice Mahendar Kumar Goyal has granted bail to Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion accused, allegedly evading tax to the tune of ₹20.83 Crores.
The accused had been arrested and placed in custody on 01.08.2022. After the conclusion of the investigation, a charge-sheet had been filed on 30.09.2022 and he had already deposited 10 percent of the alleged evaded tax amount.
Siddharth Ranka, assisted by M. Iqbal, Saurav Harsh, Apeksha Bapna and Rohan Chatter appeared for the petitioner and argued that, the maximum punishment which can be awarded is five years and that the offenses are compoundable.
It was further submitted that the accused has no criminal antecedents and prayed for his release on bail.
In addition, it was also submitted that, “till date, no notice for adjudication of the tax liability as stipulated under Section 73 & 74 of the Rajasthan GST Act of 2017 has been served upon him.”
The accused was charged for the offense under Section 132(1)(B)(C) of the Rajasthan Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
It was contended by the counsel for the petitioner that he has falsely been implicated in this case.The petitioner counsel also submitted that there has been violation of mandatory provisions while effecting his arrest and its continuation. He also relied on the judgment passed in Ratnambar Kaushik vs. Union of India[2022 TAXSCAN (SC) 209].
In rebuttal, the state submitted that there is grave allegation against the petitioner of evasion of tax amount to the tune of ₹20.83 Cr. He, therefore, prayed for dismissal of the bail application.
Observing that, “the petitioner is in custody since 01.08.2022, charge-sheet has been filed on 30.09.2022 and he has already deposited about 10 percent of the amount of alleged evaded tax duty”, the Single Bench of Rajasthan High Court granted bail to the petitioner, Khem Chand Thathera.
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