Sandeep Goyal Vs Union of India (Rajasthan High Court)
The petitioner filed an application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 seeking regular bail in FIR No.15/2018 registered at Police Station DGGI, GST, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The offences alleged were under Sections 132(1)(b)(c)(d)(f)(i) and (i) read with Sub-section (5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The petitioner submitted that his earlier bail application had been dismissed as the bail petition of co-accused Himani Munjal was also dismissed. However, she was subsequently granted bail by the Supreme Court on 27.01.2020. It was argued that the petitioner was in custody for about one and a half years and the maximum punishment prescribed in the case was five years, entitling him to bail.
Read SC Judgment in this Case: SC Grants Conditional Relief as Investigation in ₹74 Crore GST Fraud Case Pending
The Union of India opposed the application, submitting that the case involved a huge fraud. During investigation, it was discovered that the petitioner and co-accused had created 555 fake firms and committed fraud amounting to Rs.74 crores. Additionally, four fake firms were detected in January 2020 involving fraud of approximately Rs.6.5 crores. Investigation was stated to be ongoing.
