Shashi Kant Gupta Vs State Through Incharge Economic Office Wing (Delhi High Court)
HC refused to grant Anticipatory Bail for fraud of 2.27 Crores Sale Transaction through Bogus Firm registered under GST Act
Conclusion: Mr Sujeet Singh Hussain, in whose name M/s Madhu Enterprises was registered, had stated that he was working as a security guard in the office of present applicants, who got his signatures for opening the bank account and fraudulently got the firm registered in his name as well as other employees. The said fraudulently opened firm had made transactions worth crores of rupees with eight firms registered with the GST Departments and M/s Madhu Enterprises had shown goods and articles worth 2.27 Crores sold to three of the eight firms of which the applicants herein were directors, therefore, the interim protection granted to directors was withdrawn.
Held: In the present case, a Chartered accountant by profession had filed a complaint at Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and when he downloaded his form 26AS from the Income Tax portal, he came to know that a GST number had fraudulently been generated in the name of M/s Madhu Enterprises using his PAN number. The complainant further alleged that using this fraudulently obtained GST number, the accused showed transactions worth Rs. 14.80 Crores in the short duration of July 2019 to November 2019. The present case was registered and an investigation was taken up. During the investigation, documents/information were obtained from the GST department. It was found that said number was activated on 01.07.2019 and was registered in the name of one Mr. Surjeet Singh. During interrogation, he revealed that he was working as a security guard in the family-owned firm/companies of the applicant. The Security guard was interrogated in detail and revealed that copies of Identity-related documents in the name of opening a bank account for credit of salary in the account were obtained from him, however, he had never been informed regarding the bank accounts opened if any, in his name. On perusal of the bank account of Miss Shashi Plast Pvt. Ltd. maintained with Bandhan Bank, it had been found that an amount of Rs. 3.00 crore (Approx) had been transferred into the accounts of suspected firms namely Global Traders, Parfait Dealers. It was worth mentioning that Shashi Plast Pvt. Ltd., Global Traders and Parfait Dealers were the firms/companies with whom lots of business transactions with the subject firm namely Madhu Enterprises, had been found. In Shashi Plast Pvt. Ltd. Mr Shahsi Kant Gupta present applicant and Mr. Akshay Gupta were the Directors. On the other hand, in M/s Global Traders and Parfait dealers Surjeet Singh Gusain was one of the partners. Crores of rupees had also been found transferred from this account to many other firms named by the employee of Bandhan Bank. During the investigation, records of business transactions relating to the firm namely M/s Madhu Enterprises were obtained from the GST Department, Jamshedpur. It was found that the said fraudulently opened firm had made transactions worth crores of rupees with eight firms registered with the GST Departments in Delhi and Uttarakhand. As per the investigation, these eight firms were in direct control of the present applicants and it was revealed that the said alleged fraudulent firm M/s Madhu Enterprises had shown goods and articles worth 2.27 Crores sold to three of the eight firms above of which the applicants herein were directors. Applicant had vehemently argued that the contents of the status report filed by the Investigating Officer were mala fide. It was held that further investigation from the GST Department had also revealed that M/s Madhu Enterprises made business transactions worth crores of rupees with three entities of which the present applicants were directors and despite that said fact, the applicants had been evading from giving details of the said transaction. Thus, custodial interrogation of the applicants was necessary to unearth entire chain of transactions linked with M/s Madhu Enterprise at the behest of the present applicants and the entities in their control. The interim protection granted to Shashi Kant Gupta and Akshy Gupta was withdrawn.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT
1. The present applications under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (‘CrPC’) seek anticipatory bail in case FIR No. 142/2021, under Sections 419/420/467/468/471/120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC‘), registered at P.S. Economic Offences Wing, Mandir Marg, Delhi.
2. The facts of the case, common to the present applications, as per status report 12.05.2023, authored by Mr. Ghanshyam, Asst. Commissioner of Police, Sector-VII/EOW, filed in BAIL APPLN. 926/2023, are as under:
“1. Briefly stated facts of the case are that complainant Sh. Rajiv Jain S/o Shri Srichand Jain, R/o 201, Prakash House, 4379/4B, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi had filed a complaint at EOW alleging therein that he is a Chartered accountant by profession and when he downloaded his form 26AS from Income Tax portal, he came to know that a GST number has fraudulently been generated in the name of M/s Madhu Enterprises using his PAN number. The complainant further alleged that using this fraudulently obtained GST number, the accused shown the transactions worth Rs. 14.80 Crores in the short duration of July 2019 to November 2019. Present case was registered and investigation was taken up.
2. During the course of investigation, it is found that for the purpose of registration of GST, the address of the firm is mentioned as 3703/03, Near S.D. Mandir, Ambala Cantt, Ambala, Haryana. Landlord of this premise has been examined who stated that he has never lent his property to any one as on the ground floor he is running medicine shop for decades and on the first floor of the said premises he is residing with his family members.
3. During the course of investigation, documents/information were obtained from the GST department. Mobile number and email ID used in registration of the alleged GST number 06AAHPJ723SK1ZJ using fraudulent means were procured through the said reply obtained from the GST department. Ownership/CAF of the said mobile number 9899022917 which is mentioned in the registration certificate of the alleged GST number was obtained and it was found that said number was activated on 01.07.2019 and was registered in the name of one Mr. Surjeet Singh Gusain S/o B.S. Gusain.
4. Further, Mr. Surjeet Singh Gusain was interrogated in the case. During interrogation, he revealed that he was working as security guard in the family-owned firm/companies of the applicant. The Security guard was interrogated in detail who revealed that copies of Identity-related documents in the name of opening of bank account for credit of salary in the account were obtained from him. During further interrogation, it has been revealed by the said employee that though the documents were obtained in the name of opening of bank account, however, he has never been informed regarding the bank accounts opened if any, in his name.
5. During further course of investigation, Mr. Sanjay Singh who was the personal security officer (PSO) of Mr. Shashi Kant Gupta (father of the present applicant) was also interrogated in this case. During interrogation Mr. Sanjay Singh stated that Shashi Kant Gupta had registered the firms in the name of his employees namely Rajesh, Rawat, Ashish, Sourabh, Mohit, Surjeet, Raju, Umesh. He further stated that he also came to know that Shashi Kant Gupta had got opened the bank accounts in the name of his employees in Bandhan Bank.
6. Further, concerned relationship manager namely Adesh Kumar of Band han Bank was also examined in this matter and his statement was recorded. During examination Mr. Adesh Kumar stated that while working with Bandhan Bank he met with Akshay Gupta and his father Shashi Kant Gupta. They had shown their willingness for opening accounts in the bank in their own name and in the name of their firms/companies and also in the name of some other persons namely Surjeet Singh Gusain, Ashutosh Kumar Thakur, Ashish Kumar, Saurabh Kumar, Gaurav Kumar, Rajesh Thakur, Rawat ji. Akshay Gupta and Shahsi Kant Gupta further misrepresented about the above said persons that they are their business associates and their accounts are also to be opened. These persons informed regarding the firms namely (1) Verizon Enterprises (2) Impact Enterprises (3) Gupta Traders (4) Hira Plastics (5) Glencore enterprises (6) Parafait Dealers (7) Atlas Sales Traders (8) Banke Bihari Traders (9) Divyanshi Enterprises (10) Global Traders (11) Chaudhary Plastics. This establishes active role played by present applicant and his father Shashi Kant Gupta in opening the bank accounts for fraudulent transactions.
7. Further, on the basis of suspected PAN numbers linked with GST registrations of the firms and mobile numbers surfaced during investigation, details of Bank accounts opened with Bandhan Bank has also been procured and we have received the information regarding nine such accounts opened in the name of different persons/entities with Bandhan Bank. Original account opening forms along with KYC documents have been obtained from Bandhan Bank.
8. Further, on perusal of the bank account of Mis Shashi Plast Pvt. Ltd. maintained with Bandhan Bank, it has been found that an amount of Rs. 3.00 crore (Approx) has been transferred in the accounts of suspected firms namely Global Traders, Parfait Dealers. It is worth mentioning that Shashi Plast Pvt. Ltd., Global Traders and Parfait Dealers are the firms/companies with whom lots of business transactions with the subject firm namely Madhu Enterprises, has been found. In Shashi Plast Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Shahsi Kant Gupta and present applicant Mr. Akshay Gupta are the On the other hand, in M/s Global Traders and Parfait dealers Surjeet Singh Gusain is one of the partners. Crores of rupees have also been found transferred from this account to many other firms named by the employee of Bandhan Bank as mentioned above.
Further, on analysis of replies/documents received from GST department, details of purchasers of articles who purchased the goods/articles from the accused firm namely M/s Madhu Enterprises during the entire period of commission of offence has been found as under:
