Amrinder Singh Vs State of Punjab (Punjab and Haryana High Court)
Introduction: In the case of Amrinder Singh Vs State of Punjab, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail to the petitioner, Amrinder Singh. The decision was based on several factors, including the fact that his co-accused had already been granted bail, the maximum sentence that could be awarded was 5 years, and he had been in custody since March 13, 2021.
Analysis: The case was centered around allegations of a fraudulent network of 40 firms that evaded tax to the tune of Rs.122.28 Crores. Amrinder Singh and his co-accused were implicated in this tax evasion scheme. In the court’s decision to grant bail, several factors were considered. In addition to the co-accused already receiving bail, the length of time Singh had spent in custody was seen as excessive considering the maximum sentence possible for the charges.
The court’s decision emphasizes that while the seriousness of economic offenses is recognized, bail should not be denied as a punitive measure. The judgment thus emphasizes that further incarceration of the petitioner was not required, especially considering his co-accused had been granted bail.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT
1. The prayer in the petition under Section 439 Cr.PC is for grant of regular bail in Complaint No.15 of 2021 titled as State Versus Vinod Kumar & Ors. Registered on 12.05.2021 under Sections 132(1) (a), (b) & (c) of Central Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017 and Punjab Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017 filed before the Court of Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Khanna, District Ludhiana.
2. The brief facts of the case as culled out from the complaint are as under:-
An investigation into the business activities of firms under subject has revealed that a group of persons as mentioned below have colluded and connived with each other to make a network of fake firms and defraud the state exchequer. All these below mentioned individuals have made a total of 40 firms and have evaded tax amounting to Rs.122.28 Crores. The common Email-ids, Phone numbers and PAN cards have been used in all these firms to get the registrations and pass on the fraudulent Input tax Credit (ITC) to various beneficiary firms. No tax has been ever paid in the inward supply chain of these firms and a mechanism has been devised by all these individuals to cover the movement of clandestine goods with fake invoices so that fraudulent ITC could be availed for adjustment against the output tax liability. Further bank accounts given/uploaded at the GSTN Portal of these firms are different than the bank accounts through which money transaction has happened and even parallel and fake bank accounts have been opened to withdraw the cash in some of these firms It is also pertinent to mention that huge cash has been collected/ withdrawn from the bank accounts by same and common persons. Different roles were assigned in this group of individuals amongst each other such as getting registration on the PAN of some individuals and cash withdrawals by some other persons of the group. The verification of inward supplies of these firms from the E-Way portal revealed that the inward supply chain of these firms is NIL at subsequent stages and these firms itself were also found to be non existent at their registered place of business. All these individuals are therefore individually and severally responsible for defrauding the state exchequer. Accordingly a case for arrest of the following 7 persons has been granted by Commissioner of State Tax, Punjab.
1) Vinod kumar, S/o S! Om Parkash Street, 1.0. 12, Amloh road, Khanna, Ludhiana.
2) Maninder Sharma, S/o Sh. Satya Varat Rattan, Street no. 1, ward no. 4, Nandi colony, Khanna, Ludhiana.
3) Harvinder Singh,S/o Sh. Sukhdev Singh H.No. 3660, Filli Gate Jagraon, Ludhiana.
4) Sandeep Singh,S/o Sh. Ikbal Singh Nabha Colony No. 01 Khanna, Ludhiana
5) Amarinder Singh,S/o Sh. Gurnam Singh H.No. 428, Uchha Vehra, GT road Khanna, Ludhiana
6) Sunny Mehta, S/o Sh. Kuldeep Mehta, H.No. C/18 St. No. 3 Jagat Colony Khanna, Ludhiana.
7) Sukhdev Singh S/o Sh. Kartar Singh, Shiva Tower Over Lock
Road Near OBC Bank Ludhiana.
The person wise details of tax evasion done through firms
registered in the name of members of this groups is as below:-
