Amrinder Singh vs State of Punjab - 2023 Supreme(P&H) 2383

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2023 Supreme(P&H) 2383

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
JASJIT SINGH BEDI, J.
Amrinder Singh – Petitioner
Versus
State of Punjab – Respondent
CRM-M-38409 of 2021
Decided On : 25-05-2023

Advocates Appeared:
Mr. S.S. Grewal, Advocate for Ms. Prabhnoor Kaur Bains, Advocate; For the Petitioner
Mr. Kirat Singh Sidhu, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab.

Headnote:(A) Central Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017 - Sections 132(1)(a), (b) & (c) - Punjab Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017 - Grant of bail - Petitioner arrested in relation to tax evasion of Rs.122.28 Crores, later updated to Rs.131.96 Crores - Court found no necessity for further incarceration given that co-accused granted bail, maximum sentence is 5 years, and numerous prosecution witnesses remain to be examined. (Paras 4, 6, 10)

(B) Bail - Discretion of the Court - The denial of bail must be the exception once the investigation is complete and the final report is filed, unless serious grounds exist warranting denial. (Paras 7, 8)

Facts of the case:
The petitioner, among seven individuals, was charged with extensive tax fraud through a network of fake firms, resulting in substantial evasion of taxes. The petitioner has been in custody since March 2021.

Findings of Court:
The Court concluded that additional detention of the petitioner was unwarranted, allowing for bail under specified conditions.

Issues: The key question was whether the seriousness of the allegations justified continued detention of the petitioner who had been in custody for a significant period, especially in light of co-accused receiving bail.

Ratio Decidendi: The Court held that the discretion to grant or deny bail should carefully consider the specifics of the case, including the length of custody and comparative situations of co-accused. The Court emphasized that bail should not be denied merely to appease public sentiment or as a punitive measure.

Result: Petition for bail granted, subject to conditions.

Table of Content
1. overview of tax evasion and complaint details (Para 1 , 2 , 3)
2. arguments for and against bail (Para 4 , 5)
3. court's discretion on bail (Para 6 , 7 , 8)
4. granting bail based on custody duration (Para 9 , 10)
5. conditions and conclusion of bail order (Para 11 , 12 , 13)

JUDGMENT

Mr. Jasjit Singh Bedi, J. (Oral)

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 v. 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) Mr. Vinod kumar, S/o Sh. Om Parkash Street, 1.0. 12, Amloh road, Khanna, Ludhiana.

2) Mr. Maninder Sharma, S/o Sh. Satya Varat Rattan, Street no. 1, ward no. 4, Nandi colony, Khanna, Ludhiana.

3) Mr. Harvinder Singh,S/o Sh. Sukhdev Singh H.No. 3660, Filli Gate Jagraon, Ludhiana.

4) Mr. Sandeep Singh,S/o Sh. Ikbal Singh Nabha Colony No. 01 Khanna, Ludhiana

5) Mr. Amarinder Singh,S/o Sh. Gurnam Singh H.No. 428, Uchha Vehra, GT road Khanna, Ludhiana

6) Mr. Sunny Mehta, S/o Sh. Kuldeep Mehta, H.No. C/18 St. No. 3 Jagat Colony Khanna, Ludhiana.

7) Mr. 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:-

Sr. No.	Name of Person	Address	Firms Regd. In Punjab	Firms Regd. Outside Punjab	Total Firms Regd.	Tax evaded	Remarks
1	Vinod Kumar	Street No.12, Amloh Road, Khanna	3	0	3	7,40,00,287/-
2	Maninder Sharma	Gali No.1, Ward No.4, Nandi Colony, Khanna	2	0	2	6,31,89,852/-	In addition, an amount of Rs.1.99 Crores received from bogus bank A/c of M/s Laxmi Iron Traders
3	Harvinder Singh	H.No.3660, Filligate Jagraon	3	3	6	37,44,56,536/-
4	Sandeep Singh	Nabha Colony No.01 Khanna, Ludhiana	5	3	8