Bail Granted to Accused as Dept. Failed to Prove That Alleged Fake Firms Didn’t Exist or Their Registration Cancelled | HC

Case Details: Manoj Kumar Jain v. Union of India - [2024] 168 taxmann.com 253 (Rajasthan)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Ganesh Ram Meena, J.
• Brahmanand Sandhu, Parth Sarthi Sandhu & Akash Mathurm for the Petitioner.
• Ajatshatru Mina, Learned. Special Public Prosecutor for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the present case, the accused was arrested for issuing fake invoices in names of nine fake firms which led to evasion of GST by claims of input tax credit on basis of such fakes invoices. He filed bail application and contended that the actual culprit in this case has been saved by the department and he has been falsely implicated in this case.

The department submitted that the accused was receiving 1% of taxable value of alleged fake bills for creating such fake invoices and 2% of taxable value of such fake bills was received by other person. The investigation as regards said other person was still not concluded and no complaint had been filed against him so far

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the department had not come out with a fact that these firms were not in existence after making a proper verification and also they had not come out with a fact that GST registration of these firms had been cancelled. Moreover, the maximum punishment for offences alleged against accused was five years and he had already suffered custody of more than seven months. Thus, it was held that the accused was to be released on bail.