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TMI Blog2022 (1) TMI 854X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the office of the Directorate of GST Intelligence, GST, Raipur for commission of offence punishable under Section 132 (1) (b) (c) of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (henceforth 'the GST Act'). 2. Case of non-applicant Department, in brief, is that based on GST Intelligence report, non-applicant started investigation, during course of investigation it revealed that M/s Manoj Enterprises, Raipur had never made any kind of purchase from any entity, it is non-existent firm at the registered address. It further revealed that applicants have formed forged firms in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra; availed illegal benefits of input tax credits and thereby caused loss of Rs. 258 Crore approximately ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unishable under Section 132 (1) (b) & (c) of the Act of 2017, however, if entire allegations contained in complaint are taken to be correct, then other firms which are beneficiaries of issuance of invoice or bills, have not been made accused. There is allegation in complaint that applicants have caused huge loss of Rs. 258 Crore to the government ex3 chequer, but there is no data to substantiate aforementioned allegation. It is also argued that since stand of non-applicant is that investigation is yet not complete, then as to on what basis non-applicant Department arrived at a conclusion that applicants have committed offence as alleged against them. He referred to some paragraphs of complaint filed against applicants in the Court of Chief ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... business transaction of Rs. 1400 Crore approximately has been shown in the name of these fake firms involving input tax credit of Rs. 258 Crore approximately. During course of investigation, applicant Nos.3 & 4 were also interrogated, their statements under Section 70 of the Act of 2017 were recorded in which they admitted their involvement in generation of fake input tax credits for monetary benefits. Applicants were arrested on 26.1.2021 in Siwan (Uttar Pradesh) and based on transit remand, they were produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Raipur on 28.1.2021, and were remanded to judicial custody. During investigation it revealed that money was transferred to various firms without procuring any goods or service from them ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ar Cards and PAN Cards in two different names with same photograph i.e. applicant No.1 in the names of Paritosh Kumar Singh & Diwakar Choudhary; applicant No.2 in the names of Ravi Kumar Tiwari & Babul Mishra. Copies of PAN Cards and Adhaar Cards of applicants No.1 & 2 are seized by nonapplicant Department during course of investigation. Perusal of list of firms/companies created by applicants would reveal that fake firms/companies are created in both names. This shows that intention of applicants since inception was to commit crime in a planned manner with calculation. Further, statement of bank accounts seized reflects huge transactions of money at a time, as appearing in Paragraph-8 of complaint, without there being any sales and purchas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed in (2013) 7 SCC 466 observed as under:- "23. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the country has been seeing an alarming rise in white-collar crimes, which has affected the fiber of the country's economic structure. Incontrovertibly, economic offences have serious repercussions on the development of the country as a whole. In State of Gujarat vs. Mohanlal Jitamalji Porwal and Anr (1987) 2 SCC 364 this Court, while considering a request of the prosecution for adducing additional evidence, inter alia, observed as under:- "5.....The entire Community is aggrieved if the economic offenders who ruin the economy of the State are not brought to book. A murder may be committed in the heat of moment upon passions being aroused. An economic o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 25. Economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail. The economic offence having deep rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds needs to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country." 8. True it is that offence committed under Section 132 (1) of the Act of 2017 is made compoundable under Section 138 of the Act of 2017, subject to deposit of amount assessed. Present is not the case where applicants being businessmen in the course of their business inadvertently committed any offence as defined under Section 132 (1) (b) (c) of the A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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