Aman Gupta Vs State (Delhi High Court)
In a recent decision, the Delhi High Court addressed a case involving allegations of GST evasion and forgery against a Chartered Accountant. The court’s ruling in Aman Gupta v. State [Bail Application No. 3408 of 2022] has significant implications for professionals accused of economic offenses. This article provides an overview of the case, the key facts, the issues at hand, and the court’s decision.
The Hon’ble Delhi High Court refused the anticipatory bail of Chartered Accountant Aman Gupta v who is an alleged offender and being charged with issuing fake invoices and e-way bills. The case also involves offences covered under Section 467 r.w. 471 of the IPC which is an economic offence involving loss to the public exchequer.
Facts:
Mr. Umang Garg (“the Complainant”) the owner of M/s Ulagarasan Impex Pvt. Ltd. was arrested by Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI), Gurugram (“the Respondent”) on April 05, 2022 on the ground that various companies owned by him were involved in GST evasion by way of availing and passing fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims.
However, the Complainant was granted bail on April 19, 2022 after depositing INR 1 crore as GST.
The Complainant stated that he appointed CA Aman Gupta (“the Applicant”) to look into the books of accounts of his companies for day-to-day business for last two years.
Firstly, the Complainant filed police complaint on May 30, 2022 and later filed FIR on September 04, 2022 and alleged that the Applicant induced him to purchase goods through different firms, which the Applicant claimed to be of his known persons. The Complainant purchased goods from such firms and made regular payment of taxes and deposited payments of the said goods in various accounts, existing in different names on the order of the Applicant. However, the Complainant later got to know that the said firms are bogus and non-existent.
Moreover, the Complainant also alleged that the Applicant and his associates have duped him of INR 2,81,99,475/- by creating fake, forged and fabricated firms and received payments including GST in different accounts against the purchased goods from the Complainant, but have not deposited GST.
The Applicant filed anticipatory bail before the Session court who dismissed the first anticipatory bail application vide order dated September 15, 2022.
Thereafter, the Applicant filed the next anticipatory bail before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court.
The Applicant submitted that it has never worked on accounts/returns of the Complainant since, the regular accounting and filing work was handled by the team of accountants of the Complainant.
The Applicant contended that, there was no bar for the Applicant to file a fresh anticipatory bail application as the Applicant was willing to deposit a sum of INR 75 lakhs and settle the matter with the Complainant and the present dispute is civil in nature, which pertains to recovery of money and the criminal proceedings cannot be resorted to for making recoveries of money.
Issue:
Whether the professional who is suspect in evasion of tax under GST can seek anticipatory bail?
The primary issue in the case of Aman Gupta v. State before the Delhi High Court was whether the professional, in this case, a Chartered Accountant (CA), who was accused of being involved in GST evasion and forgery, was eligible to seek anticipatory bail. The case revolved around allegations that the CA had played a role in issuing fake invoices and e-way bills, which were part of a scheme to evade GST (Goods and Services Tax). Additionally, the case involved charges under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with Section 471 of the IPC, which pertains to economic offenses and forgery.
The key legal issue was whether the accused CA, Aman Gupta, could be granted anticipatory bail given the serious nature of the allegations against him, including economic offenses, GST evasion, and forgery. The court needed to decide whether custodial interrogation of the accused was necessary and whether there were sufficient grounds to grant anticipatory bail.
Held:
The Hon’ble Delhi High Court in Bail Application No. 3408 of 2022 held as under:
