Gaurav Babu Jain Vs State of Haryana (Punjab And Haryana High Court)
Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail to the person accused in matter of bogus firms and passing of fraudulent Input Tax Credit under GST since claims are yet to be proved and accused has been in prolonged custody.
Facts- This petition for grant of bail u/s. 483 BNSS, has been filed by petitioner, an accused in criminal complaint case registered against him for the commission of offence punishable under Clauses (b), (c) and (l) of Section 132 (1) of CGST Act, 2017. Notably, the allegation against petitioner is that he created/setup and elaborate network of 11 tax paying bogus firms solely for the purpose of generating fake invoices and passing fraudulent Input Tax Credit. It has been alleged that petitioner defrauded the State Exchequer of over Rs.16 crores.
Conclusion- Held that it thus emerges that even in cases involving economic offences, the Court seized of the matter has to go through the gravity of the offence, the object of the Act, the attending circumstances, etc. Thus, economic offences cannot be categorized in one group and the Court should not proceed on the presumption that “Denial of Bail is the Rule and grant being the exception”. In the case in hand, the allegations against petitioner are that he is key-person in creating/operating of 11 taxpayer firms and wrongfully availed/passed input tax credit amounting to Rs.16 crore, thus, causing loss to the State Exchequer. These claims are yet to be proved. The fact that he has been in custody since 18.04.2025, has been admitted by the respondent department. Resultantly, petitioner is granted the concession of bail.
