Case Law Details
Divyeshkumar Prafullachandra Kanani Vs Central CGST (Court Of Chief Judicial Magistrate and Additional Senior Civil Judge, Jamnagar, District)
Introduction: In a recent legal development, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate and Additional Senior Civil Judge, Jamnagar, District, granted bail to the accused, Divyeshkumar Prafullachandra Kanani, in a case filed by the Central CGST, Rajkot. The basis for this decision was the exceeding of the statutory 60-day limit for judicial custody without the prosecution filing a complaint.
Detailed Analysis: The accused faced charges under Section 132(1)(a), (b), and (l) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The maximum punishment for these offenses is imprisonment for up to five years with a fine. As per Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the accused, in this case, was entitled to default bail since they had been in judicial custody for over 60 days, and no complaint had been filed by the prosecution.
The defense argued for bail, citing relevant legal precedents, including judgments from the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the High Court of Gujarat. On the other hand, the Special Public Prosecutor opposed bail, stating that the delay in submitting the complaint was due to awaiting reports from the FSL, Junagadh, and contending that the provisions of Section 167(2) did not apply to GST investigations.
The court’s detailed analysis rejected the prosecution’s arguments, relying on the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Directorate Of Enforcement v. Deepak Mahajan. It clarified that Section 167 could be applied during investigations under special laws, including the GST Act.
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