Gagandeep Singh And Another Vs State of H.P. And Another (Himachal Pradesh High Court)
Held that the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure [Cr.P.C.] apply to the proceedings conducted under GST Act if there is no provision to the contrary. Accordingly, the present petition is dismissed.
Facts- A complaint against the petitioners/accused for the commission of offences punishable u/s. 69 r.w.s. 132 of HPGST/CGST Act, 2017, r.w.s. 20 of the IGST Act, 2017. It was asserted that M/s G.M. PowerTech is a registered taxable person consisting of a partnership firm of Gagan Deep Singh and Jatinder Mohan (the present petitioners/accused). Information was received from reliable sources that the petitioners indulged in large-scale evasion of tax by availing the fraudulent input tax credit during the years 2017-18 and 2018-19. They declared inward supplies (purchases) from Delhi and U.P.-based floating fictitious and non-existent firms, which were registered to pass on the fraudulent benefit of input tax credit on the strength of fake invoices. The matter was examined on the GST Portal, and it was verified that several consignments were delivered in two-wheelers, three-wheelers or cars. The registration numbers of many vehicles declared to have transported the goods from outside the State were found to be fake. The consignments were also transported in cars, but it was not possible to transport such heavy goods in cars. Goods worth ₹ 2,89,26,299/- were declared to have been transported by a fake or non-existent vehicles. Input tax credit (ITC) of ₹ 61,69,147/- was claimed.
