Case Law Details
Ashish Rajput Vs Union of India (Allahabad High Court)
Whether the bail being granted to one of the co-accused can be a strong ground for the another co-accused to also be enlarged on bail?
The present bail application has been filed by the applicant in Case Crime No. 1 of 2021, under Sections 132(1)(b), 132(1)(c), 132(1) (i) of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 at Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Dehradun Zonal Unit, with the prayer to enlarge him on bail.
In the affidavit filed in support of the bail application it has been specifically stated that the opposite party no.3 had issued summons to the applicant, in response to which he appeared before the opposite party no.3 and was arrested on 29-09-2021, however, in the counter affidavit it has been stated that the applicant appeared in the office of the opposite party no.3 on 29-09-2021, on which date his statement was recorded but it could not be concluded and the applicant was allowed to take rest and have its meal in the office of the opposite party no.3 and after a prolong interrogation he was arrested on 02-102021. Thereafter on 30-11-2021, the Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Dehradun Zonal Unit filed a complaint in the court of Special Chief Judicial Magistrate, Meerut inter-alia alleging that the applicant Ashish Rajput and one Mayank Gautam used to get iron scrap from open market on which no GST was paid and in the said process they used to get the scrap dispatched directly from the godown of the Kabadi to the buyers’ premises. In order to camouflage this non-GST paid goods, GST invoices were issued from bogus firms in the name of the buyers. The allegation in the complaint is that the applicant and Mayank Gautam had issued invoices from their bogus firms without any supply of bills and they availed and utilized fraudulent input tax credit without any receipt of the goods.
In the affidavit filed in support of the bail application it has categorically been stated that the applicant was taken into custody on 29-09-2021 and he was produced before the Court on 02-10-2021 and in the intervening period his confessional statement has been recorded and his signatures have been taken on various papers illegally. It has further been stated in the affidavit that the applicant is not the beneficiary of tax and he is innocent person. All the documents have already been filed in the court concerned and, therefore, the applicant is not in a position to tamper with or destroy any evidence. The learned counsel for the applicant has further submitted that the co-accused Mayank Gautam has already been granted bail by a Coordinate Bench of this Court by means of an order dated 06-062022 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 9305 of 2022.
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