P&H HC Grants Conditional Bail in GST Forgery and ITC Credit Fraud Case

Rohit Vs State of Haryana (Panjab Haryana high court)

The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted conditional regular bail to the petitioner, Rohit, who is the prime accused in a case involving the use of a forged signature of the GST Commissioner to facilitate the illegal withdrawal of seized credit from a non-existent firm’s bank account. The case originated from a complaint by the Assistant Commissioner, CGST, Faridabad, concerning M/s Saneha Export, a non-existent firm that had allegedly evaded GST amounting to Rs. 4,51,71,163 by availing fictitious Input Tax Credit (ITC).

The firm’s bank account had been frozen under Section 83 of the CGST Act due to the ongoing investigation. The allegations state that a conspiracy was hatched to withdraw the credit balance of Rs. 3,29,23,465 from the seized account. This was executed by preparing a false and forged letter dated January 22, 2024, bearing the counterfeit signature of the Commissioner, CGST, Faridabad, directing the bank to allow the withdrawal. The fraud was uncovered when the bank sought clarification on the genuineness of the letter. As per the investigation, the petitioner, as the owner/proprietor of M/s Sneha Export, was the prime accused who, in conspiracy with a co-accused, procured and facilitated the dispatch of the forged letter, leading to the withdrawal of approximately Rs. 1,10,00,000, of which Rs. 35,00,000 allegedly fell to the petitioner’s share.