Ankit Agarwal Vs Union of India (District Court Alipurduar)
District Court of Alipurduar has denied the pre-arrest bail application of Ankit Agarwal, a resident of Birpara, in connection with a case alleging large-scale smuggling of cement from Bhutan to India and subsequent evasion of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). The case, C.R. Case No.1027-2024, has been initiated under various sections of the Customs Act, 1962. The court emphasized the serious nature of the allegations and the necessity of custodial interrogation to uncover the complete details of the alleged scheme.
During the hearing, counsel for Ankit Agarwal argued that the prosecution’s complaint contained factual inaccuracies, citing discrepancies between Bhutanese and Indian customs data regarding cement imports. It was contended that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) data was “raw” and based on “conjectures and surmises” without concrete evidence. The defense questioned how numerous trucks could have smuggled cement across the border without customs intervention and highlighted that cement from Bhutan was not subject to customs duty, with IGST being available as Input Tax Credit (ITC), suggesting no logical reason for smuggling. Furthermore, it was asserted that Penden Cement Authority Limited (PCAL), a government company, was unlikely to be involved in such activities, and the burden of proof for smuggling lay solely with the complainant. The defense also argued that Section 123 of the Customs Act, dealing with seized goods, was inapplicable as no goods had been seized. Crucially, it was submitted that IGST, levied under Section 3(7) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, is not a “duty of customs” as defined by the Customs Act, 1962, and therefore, the prosecution should proceed under the CGST Act, 2017 (Sections 69, 132, 74) instead of the Customs Act. Referring to the Supreme Court’s judgments in Re Satender Kumar Antil Vs. CBI, the defense pleaded that bail should not be denied even in grave economic offenses, noting the maximum punishment prescribed was seven years.
