There have been several instances where it has been noticed that the two criminal complaints are registered by the State GST Department and Central GST Department based on the same facts wherein first State GST department registered a criminal complaint against the Petitioner and subsequently the Petitioner was arrested and released on bail.
Thereafter the Central GST department registered a criminal complaint against the Petitioner on the same facts and again the Petitioner was arrested and released on bail.
Now here are a few judicial precedents wherein the stand of various High courts has been elaborated pertaining to the parallel investigation of GST offences by Centre and State Officers.
The Ramesh Mundra v/s State of Gujarat was the unique case of Double Jeopardy by two criminal complaints registered by the State GST Department and Central GST Department based on the same facts wherein first State GST department registered a criminal complaint against the Petition under Section 132 of Gujarat GST Act, 2017 and subsequently the Petitioner was arrested and released on bail. Thereafter the Central GST department registered criminal complaints under Section 132(1) (b) and 132 (1) (c) of the CGST ACT, 2017 for a bogus input tax credit against the Petitioner on the same facts, and again the Petitioner was arrested and released on bail.
In this case the Gujarat High Court stayed the proceedings against separate complaints by the State and Central GST Department against the Petitioner on the same facts.
The Gujarat High Court in the case of Sureshbhai Gadhecha Vs State of Gujarat ruled that There cannot be two parallel investigations under the State Act as well as the Central Act.
As per clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 6 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, it was provided that where a proper officer under Central Goods and Services Tax Act has initiated any proceedings on a subject matter, no proceedings shall be initiated by the proper officer under that Act on the same subject matter.
The Delhi High Court in the case of RCI Industries And Technologies Ltd Vs Commissioner DGST Delhi & Ors. while explaining the Parallel enquiries on same GST issues by State & CGST authorities ruled that in case the action of the State and Central Authorities is overlapping, the Petitioner would be at liberty to take action to impugn the same in accordance with law.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be said that the majority of the Judicial Precedents states that two parallel investigations under the State Act as well as the Central Act can not be initiated and the rationale of the judgment goes to the root of Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India which incorporates the principles of “autrefois convict” or Double jeopardy which means that person must not be punished twice for the same offence.
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