The Allahabad High Court granted the anticipatory bail to a person alleged of GST evasion to the tune of Rs.100 Crores.
The applicant, Nitin Verma filed anticipatory bail application with reference to summon issued by Superintendent (A.E.) CGST and Central Excise, Agra under section 70 of the CGST Act, 2017 read with Section 174 of the CGST Act, 2017 during the pendency of the case before the CGST and Central Excise, Agra.
It is alleged that in the instant case, G.S.T. evasion of more than Rs.100 crores is involved. It is a cognizable and non-bailable offence as per Section 132 (1) (i) of the C.G.S.T. Act, 2017 read with Section 132 (5) of the CGST Act.
The Revenue urged that during search of the applicantās premises, a number of incriminating documents were recovered which prove his involvement in GST evasion of more than 100 crores.
The inquiry is still in progress and 111 fake firms have been found and bogus invoices numbering 373 have been recovered. The applicant is the mastermind of the entire fraud. The goods were sold on paper only without any actual production or supply.
The single-judge bench of Justice Siddharth enlarged the applicant on anticipatory bail for a period of six weeks or till the inquiry is concluded by the Proper Officer under Section 70 (1) of the CGST Act, whichever is earlier, on the execution of a personal bond of Rs. 5,00,000 and two sureties of the like amount before the Proper Officer concerned on the various conditions.
Firstly, the applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by the proper officer as and when required;
Secondly, the applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any officer;
Thirdly, the applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the Court and if he has a passport, the same shall be deposited by him before the proper officer concerned;
Fourthly, the party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad;
Fifthly, the concerned Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of Allahabad High Court and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
Lastly, in case the applicant fails to appear on any date fixed by the Proper Officer under the C.G.S.T. Act, for any reason whatsoever, this anticipatory bail application shall stand automatically rejected and the protection given to the applicant will cease to have any effect.
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