The Patiala House Court refused to grant bail to a person accused of claiming bogus ITC to the tune of Rs.5.98 Crores.
The applicant, Sachin Mittal is a proprietor of M/s Aryan Metal, who is engaged in the trading of metal including scarp and sanitary items.
The applicant submitted that nothing incriminating was found during the search by the department and the accused and his brother were forced to sign some typed statement in English and thereafter was arrested.
The case of the departments is that the accused is involved in issuance of fake invoices without actual delivery of goods and thereby availing ITC of Rs.6.6 Crores in M/s Aryan Metals and an amount of Rs. 5.98 Crores in M/s Rashi Metal.
However, it was submitted by the Counsel for the applicant that applicant is neither the proprietor nor the person in charge of Rashis Metal and he cannot be fastened with any liability qua the said firm.
The accused used to purchase and sell goods legally and was regular in paying GST returns and movements of goods proper and valid through e-way bills reflecting the details of the vehicles, the applicant added.
It was further submitted by the petitioner that no independent investigation and verification had been conducted from sellers and buyers to verify the GST returns filed by the accused.
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dr. Pankaj Sharma noted that the accused has himself disclosed relevant documents/material pertaining to the alleged transactions and is lying with his CA Nitin Jain who is still absconding.
The court while disposing of the bail application said that the investigation in the present matter is still continuing and is at a crucial juncture as unless the CA Nitin Jain joins the investigation and provides all the documentary evidence to the department for the ascertainment of the actual liability, the release of the accused herein would be unwarranted as his release would certainly impede the ongoing investigation in the form of destruction of relevant material or tampering with the evidence.
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