The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted Bail to persons accused of submitting fake documents on the GST online platform for falsely utilizing Input Tax Credit (ITC).
The allegation against the petitioner, Govind, is that the police registered a written complaint from the Excise and Taxation Officer, Panipat. The complaint mentioned that a Firm gets registered under HGST Act on the basis of fake and forged documents and thus received the Government authority by submitting fake documents on Government GST online platform for falsely utilizing input tax credit. Based on the said information, the police registered the FIR mentioned above. The investigation reveals the involvement of the accused in the offense which led to his arrest. Based on these allegations, the Police registered the FIR.
The accused has taken advantage of the loopholes in the GST Taxation System, particularly its online platform. Undoubtedly people should not take advantage of such loopholes in the system especially the ones set up by Government organizations that affect entire masses. Probably, realizing the advantages people are taking of the loopholes the Government must have plugged all the loopholes.
“Without commenting on the case’s merits, given the investigation stage, the period of incarceration already undergone, and the circumstances peculiar to this case, the petitioners make a case for release on bail,” the single-judge bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara said.
The court said, “Given the gravity of accusations and the heinous nature of the offense, the petitioner shall surrender all weapons, firearms, ammunition, if any, along with the arms license to the concerned authority within 30 days from today and inform the Investigator about the compliance. However, subject to the Indian Arms Act, 1959, the petitioner shall be entitled to renew and take it back in case of acquittal in this case.”
“During the trial’s pendency, if the petitioner repeats or commits any offense where the sentence prescribed is more than seven years or violates any condition as stipulated in this order, it shall always be permissible to the respondent to apply for cancellation of this bail. It shall further be open for any investigating agency to bring it to the notice of the Court seized of the subsequent application that the accused was earlier cautioned not to indulge in criminal activities. Otherwise, the bail bonds shall continue to remain in force throughout the trial and after that in terms of Section 437-A of the CrPC,” the court said.
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