9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (5) TMI 916X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hu Srivastava amounts to Rs. 144.14 Crore. The admission of the applicant, which according to learned Senior Advocate appearing for the applicant has been retracted, would show that shelf-companies have been created by the applicant using someone else s KYC documents and were sold to the main accused- Deepanshu Srivastava at the cost of Rs. 35000-50000 each for a commission of Rs. 2000-3000. The allegations which are emerging in the confessional statements of the applicant are also showing him in close association with the co-accused- Deepanshu Srivastava so as to help him in sharing ID password of the firms and also in issuing fake invoices/bills and creation of supply chain. The role of the instant applicant in the alleged crime is much lesser than the role of co-accused- Deepanshu Srivastava who has already been enlarged on bail by this court. Nothing has been canvassed by the Department before this court which may suggest the necessity of the further detention of applicant in the prison in the background that no request for custodial interrogation has been made by the Department at the time of remand of the applicant, before Magistrate. Keeping in view the fact that the applica ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e arrest of the accused person may not be made, which is against the scheme of the Act of 2017. 4. While drawing attention of this Court towards the arrest memo, a copy of which has been placed on record, it is submitted that no grounds have been shown in the arresting memo which may justify the arrest of the applicant and vague language has been used therein. It is further submitted that the applicant is neither the proprietor nor having any position in any of the alleged firms and he was working on the post of Manager (Operation) in M/s Emblica Bio Private Limited and a search is shown to have been conducted at the office of the above company on 20.03.2024 and during such search certain incriminating documents, electronic devices are shown to have been recovered from the possession of the applicant. It is vehemently submitted that no such document or device has been recovered from the possession of the applicant and in pursuance of the summons issued by the Department the applicant had appeared before the Investigating Officer on 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 27th March, 2024 and on 28th March, 2024 the applicant has been illegally arrested, while he was cooperating with the investigatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on number as per rule 8 and 9 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the "Rules of 2017") and after due verification of their credentials, they were registered, moreover, no money pertaining to any illegal claim of input tax credit has been received by the applicant and illegal income by taking fake input tax credits could only be attributed against co-accused- Deepanshu Srivastava, who has already been enlarged on bail by this court vide order dated 19.03.2024 passed in criminal misc.bail application no.2391 of 2014 and case of the applicant stands on better footing than the case of co-accused- Deepanshu Srivastava. 9. It is further submitted that the applicant is in jail since 29.03.2024 having no previous criminal record to his credit. No formal complaint or FIR has been lodged till now and the applicant undertakes that he will fully cooperate with the investigation/trial and would remain present before the investigating officer/trial court as and when his presence would be required before them and there is no apprehension that after being released on bail he may flee from the course of law or may otherwise misuse the liberty. 10. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on cannot be assigned as reasons for grant of bail in case of offences of serious nature. It is requested that having regard to the magnitude of the crime wherein the State has been inflicted loss of crores of rupees of input tax, the applicant is not entitled to be released on bail. Learned counsels for the respondent Union of India (Department of Revenue, Directorate of GST Intelligence, Lucknow Zonal Unit) have also placed reliance upon the following case-laws:- i. 2019 (25) G.S.T.L. 185 (Telengana) (P.V. Ramana Reddy Vs. Union) of India; ii. 2023 (76) G.S.T.L. 146 (S.C.) (State of Gujarat Vs. Choodamani Parmeshwaran Iyer); iii. (2013) 7 SCC 466 (Nimmagadda Prasad Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation; iv. 2023 (69) G.S.T.L.124 (Chhattisgarh) (Basudev Mittal Vs. Union of India); and v. 2023 (69) G.S.T.L. 118 (S.C.) (Basudev Mittal Vs. Union of India); 12. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the record, it is evident that the case of the prosecution, as is emerging from the record, is that the allegations against the applicant are to the tune that while investigating the case of co-accused- Deepanshu Srivastava with regard to claiming fake inp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -50000 each and obtained GST registration of 20 firms for Deepanshu Srivastava. iv. The Applicant along with sharing the Id, password of the firms to Deepanshu Srivastava also used to maintain a database of GST id, password, e-way bill id, passwords of the firms operated or controlled by Deepanshu Srivastava. The Applicant used to file GST registrations, apply for amendments in GST registrations, generating e-way bills using these ids and passwords. v. In addition to the above, Applicant used to issue fake invoices/bills, creation of supply chain using fraudulently obtained GST registrations, maintaining tally database, all for Deepanshu Srivastava. vi. The Applicant used to ensure that turnover of each firm is between 8-12 Crores and once the limit was reached, the GST registration cancellation was made by him. Vii. Applicant used to guide Deepanshu Srivastava on which firms to buy since list of firms available for sale used to be 150- 200 & state-wise." 13. The above admission of the applicant, which according to learned Senior Advocate appearing for the applicant has been retracted, would show that shelf-companies have been created by the applicant using someone else's ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the main accused- Deepanshu Srivastava who is accused of receiving false/illegal input tax credits without supply of goods which is not the case with the applicant, a case of bail is emerging in favour of the applicant, however, apprehension of the Department pertaining to non-cooperation of the applicant in investigation while on bail may be taken care of by placing adequate conditions upon the applicant. 15. In result, the instant bail application moved by the applicant is hereby allowed. 16. Let the accused/applicant- Mohit Kumar, involved in above-mentioned case, be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions:- (i) The applicant shall deposit his passport before the Trial Court, if he is having the same. (ii) The applicant shall not sell any property of himself or of any of the companies in which he has a substantial interest and which are under investigation. (iii) The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating/pressurizing the witnesses during the investigation/trial. (iv) The applicant shall cooperate in the invest ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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