Paras Jain Vs Union of India (Allahabad High Court)
Bail granted to an Applicant involved in fraudulent ITC
The Hon’ble High Court Allahabad in the matter of Paras Jain v Union of India [Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. – 21848 of 2022 dated July 29, 2022] granted bail to an Applicant involved in a trial relating to Input Tax Credit (“ITC”) fraud and held that seriousness of the offences alone is not conclusive of the Applicant’s entitlement to bail.
Facts:
A bail application has been filed by M/s Paras Jain (“the Applicant”) with a prayer to release him against the complaint file by the Directorate General of G.S.T (“the Respondent”), regarding offences committed under Section 132 (1)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) that fake ITC of INR 40.66 crores on the strength of invoices issued by non-existent firms, M/s JMJ Traders and Ms. Durga Traders (“the Firms”). The Firms had passed on fraudulent ITC to M/s Balaji Enterprises (“the Buyer”) of INR 57.96 lacs. In the search conducted in the registered office of the Buyer wherein the proprietor of the firm stated that some invoices for metal scrap from the Applicant without receiving any goods has been received and admitted his tax liability on account of availing fake ITC. The Applicant admitted the that fake invoices from 76 bogus firms to various business buyers without supplying of goods or services were issued and have availed ineligible ITC amounting to INR 343 crores.
Applicant’s contentions:
