Bahadur Islam Vs Union of India (Gauhati High Court)
In Bahadur Islam Vs Union of India, the Gauhati High Court considered a bail application filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in connection with a case registered by the Anti-Evasion Unit, CGST, Guwahati, under Sections 132 read with 69 of the CGST Act. The petitioner was arrested on 14 November 2025 following allegations of involvement in a large-scale GST fraud. The prosecution alleged that the petitioner, along with co-accused, was involved in obtaining GST registrations for non-existent firms and issuing fake invoices to pass on fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) without any corresponding supply of goods or services. The alleged fraudulent transactions were stated to exceed ₹8 crore during the period from June 2025 to October 2025.
According to the prosecution, the offences fell within Section 132(1) of the CGST Act and were cognizable and non-bailable under Section 132(5). It was also asserted that the petitioner’s arrest was effected after obtaining due authorization from the Commissioner under Section 69 of the Act. The petitioner contended that the arrest was made without following proper procedure and claimed that he was merely operating a small customer service point, assisting customers in making business-related entries such as registrations. He argued that it was not practicable for him to verify whether the information provided by customers was genuine and that he could not be held liable for any fraud committed by them.
