Chhattisgarh HC Denies Bail to alleged Fake GST Commissioner in ₹34 Lakh Bribery Trap Case [Read Order]

In a recent case, the Chhattisgarh High Court has rejected the second bail plea of the accused of impersonating a senior GST ( Goods and Services Tax ) Commissioner and demanding illegal gratification of ₹34 lakh from a businessman after a tax raid.

The applicant, Anil Kumar Gupta, who has been in custody since July 2025, filed his second bail application under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), after his earlier plea was rejected in November 2025.

Appellant allegedly posed as Commissioner Mishra at Starbucks, Raipur, and demanded ₹45 lakh (₹11 lakh as tax, ₹34 lakh as bribe).

The appellant claimed that he is a private individual, not a GST officer, and has been wrongly implicated based on assumptions and disputed evidence, and he was not named as a recipient of any bribe, nor shown as a direct participant in the transaction in either the main charge sheet or in the supplementary sheet.

The case rests mainly on CCTV footage and voice recordings, which he argued are legally fragile and not yet forensically authenticated. Suspicion alone, he said, cannot substitute proof. He argued that prolonged detention amounts to punishment before conviction, violating Article 21 of the Constitution because he has been in custody since July 2025, while charges are still pending.

The revenue argued that the appellant's first bail plea was already rejected on the merits in November 2025, and no new circumstances justify reconsideration.

They also stated that co-accused Vinay Rai was caught red-handed accepting ₹5 lakh in a trap laid by CBI, with the tainted money recovered in the presence of independent witnesses.

It was also submitted that he was identified in CCTV footage and voice recordings by multiple witnesses, including employees, the complainant, and independent witnesses.

After hearing both sides, the High Court observed that successive bail applications require a substantial change in circumstances, which was absent here, and noted that Anil Kumar Gupta allegedly impersonated a CGST Commissioner.

The High Court observed that the appellant evaded repeated CBI notices, avoided execution of non-bailable warrants, and initially refused to provide his voice sample, reflecting non-cooperation. Also, the court reiterated that a second bail application can only be entertained if there is a substantial change in circumstances since the earlier rejection. No such change was demonstrated.

The bench, Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha said that the gravity of corruption charges and Gupta’s alleged central role in the conspiracy, the Court found no ground to grant bail. It was also held that since no new circumstances were shown, and considering the seriousness of the offence, the Court rejected the second bail application.

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