Kannauj-based perfume businessman Peeyush Jain has received a bail order from the Allahabad High Court in a tax evasion case involving more than Rs. 196 crore cash and 23 kg gold were seized from his residence and factory in Kanpur and Kannauj during a search by the Directorate of GST Intelligence (DGGI) team in December last year following which Jain was arrested.
Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, while allowing the bail application of Jain has imposed several conditions including that he will not tamper with the evidence during the trial and will not influence any witness. Jain was seeking his release on bail in criminal case number 7646 of 2022 in the court of special chief judicial magistrate (economic offences)/additional metropolitan magistrate-III, Kanpur Nagar.
On December 22 last year, the officers DGGI started a search on the residential and official premises of the applicant at Kannauj and Kanpur which continued till December 28. Cash amounting to ₹196.57 crore and 23 kg gold were seized from the applicant’s premises. Jain was arrested on December 26 last year.
The applicant, Mr. Peeyush submitted in the bail plea that he had already paid a sum of ₹54.09 crore towards tax, interest and penalty and he had undertaken to deposit the amount of any additional liability whereas the department was yet to ascertain his tax liability.
According to the petitioner, since the applicant had already deposited the tax, interest and penalty and the DGGI had seized the cash amount of ₹196,57,02,539, “interest of the revenue as well as that of the public at large” was protected.
Further, applicant had already spent more than 8 months in jail and during this period the department had not sought his custodial interrogation which shows that his custody was not at all required and therefore he may be released on bail.
The court while allowing the bail application observed, “The basic jurisprudence relating to bail in economic offences remains the same inasmuch as the grant of bail is the rule and refusal is the exception so as to ensure that the accused has the opportunity of securing fair trial.”
“Even if the allegation is one of grave economic offence, it is not a rule that bail should be denied in every case since there is no such bar created in the relevant enactment passed by the legislature nor does the bail jurisprudence provide so,” the court said.
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