In a recent judgement, the Rajasthan High Court (HC) granted bail to persons arrested for offences under GST.
Mahendra Saini, the petitioner has been arrested in connection with the complaint under Jaipur for the offence(s) under Sections 132 (1) (B), (C) & (F) Punishable under Sections 132 (1) (1) read with Section 132 (5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (In FIR) and under Section 132 (1) (B) (C) (F) & (1) read with Section 5 of the Central Goods & Service Tax Act, 2017.
The petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in this matter and all co-accused persons have already been released on bail by the Court. The petitioner is in custody for more than two years and the alleged offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to five years.
As per Section 132 of CGST Act 2017, issuance of an invoice or bill without supply of goods or services and wrongful availment or utilization of Input Tax Credit is a cognizable and non-bailable offence if the amount is over Rs 5 Crore.
Justice Inderjeet Singh observed that the petitioner is in custody for last more than two years and the main accused namely Vishnukant Garg has already been released on bail by the Co-ordinate Bench of the Court and the alleged offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to five years and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case.
The Court allowed the petition and granted regular bail subject to satisfaction of the trial Court. Mr Sanjay Verma appeared on behalf of the petitioner and Mr Kinshuk Jain appeared on behalf of the respondent.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
