9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (8) TMI 1384X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at law, as laid down in the following judgments, will govern the field.' In SANJAY CHANDRA VERSUS CBI [ 2011 (11) TMI 537 - SUPREME COURT ], the Hon'ble Apex Court noticed that it was a case of fraud wherein by cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property by using as genuine a forged document was involved but the punishment for the offence was imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years. The Hon'ble Apex Court held that it is, no doubt, true that the nature of the charge may be relevant but at the same time the punishment to which the party may be liable, if convicted, also bears upon the issue. Therefore, in determining whether to grant bail, both the seriousness of the charge and the severity of the punishment should be taken into consideration. Keeping in view the fact that in the instant matter trial has not started even yet and the complicity of the accused applicant is yet to be determined in trial and everything relevant to the matter is under control of the department itself and there is probably nothing on record to demonstrate that the applicant, if enlarged on bail, would in any way adversely affect the trial; further no final verdict of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... stered premises. Further, during the search at the place of business of Ms Okito Tradeco LLP some incriminating documents were also resumed under panchanama dated 30.4.2024 and during forensic examination of the devices surrendered by the partners of M/s Okito Tradeco LLP, chats were recovered from the agents indicating exchange of cash and issuance of invoices on commission basis. On being shown the excel sheets disclosing cash related activities to the applicant, retrieved from his WhatsApp chats with the agents of non-existing firm the applicant admitted that the said sheets had been prepared by him in respect of the transactions with Shri Jolly Iqbal. He further admitted that the first column indicated the date of RTGS to the firm, the second column was name of the firm from which the invoice has been received, third column indicated the RTGS amount sent from his firm in the account provided by Shri Jolly Iqbal, fourth column indicated the commission charged by Shri Jolly Iqbal for issuance of invoices, fifth column indicated the amount to be received by him after deducting the commission from RTGS, sixth column indicated the amount received by him in cash, seventh column indic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e departmental officers is relevant unless it is tested in the cross-examination before the Court. It is further submitted that the signature of the applicant was obtained on some papers by force by the departmental officers. It is next submitted that at the time of judicial remand the department never prayed for custodial interrogation from the present accused applicant and now when all the incriminating articles / evidence are under control and custody of the department itself, no custodial interrogation from the applicant is required. It is further urged that applicant has been languishing in jail since 1.5.2024 and in case he is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate with the trial. It is also submitted that the trial in the matter still has not commenced. Since the matter pertains to an offence wherein maximum period of imprisonment as provided by law is five years, no fruitful purpose would be served in case the applicant is put under the custody for any further period. In support of his submissions, learned counsel for the applicant has placed reliance upon the following decisions of this Court : (i) Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 23 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd 1.5.2024 that the applicant was looking after all the purchase related activities from the five non-existent firms. He was aware of all the frauds and moreover WhatsApp chats and excel sheets retrieved from mobile phone of the applicant revealed that he was looking after all the operations related to cash handling. The activities of the applicant led to fraudulent availment of fake ITC to the tune of Rs. 8.47 Crores in M/s Okito Tradeco LLP from non-existent / non-operational firms without having physical receipt / supply of any underlying goods or services. 8. I have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the entire record carefully. 9. The attention of the Court is also drawn to a relevant pronouncement made by Hon'ble Apex Court in Satender Kumar Antil vs. Central Bureau of Investigation, (2022) 10 SCC 51 wherein dealing specifically with the economic offences, it has been held by the Hon'ble Apex Court that (paragraph 90 of the said judgment): 90. What is left for us now to discuss are the economic offences. The question for consideration is whether it should be treated as a class of its own or otherwise. Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ept in perspective is that even if the allegation is one of grave economic offence, it is not a rule that bail should be denied in every case since there is no such bar created in the relevant enactment passed by the legislature nor does the bail jurisprudence provide so. Therefore, the underlining conclusion is that irrespective of the nature and gravity of charge, the precedent of another case alone will not be the basis for either grant or refusal of bail though it may have a bearing on principle. But ultimately the consideration will have to be on case-to-case basis on the facts involved therein and securing the presence of the accused to stand trial. 11. In Sanjay Chandra v. CBI , (2012) 1 SCC 40 , the Hon'ble Apex Court noticed that it was a case of fraud wherein by cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property by using as genuine a forged document was involved but the punishment for the offence was imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years. The Hon'ble Apex Court held that it is, no doubt, true that the nature of the charge may be relevant but at the same time the punishment to which the party may be liable, if convicted, also bears upon the is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
