2025:CGHC:57556 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 8727 of 2025 Anil Kumar Gupta S/o Shri Ravindra Prakash Gupta Aged About 57 Years Present R/o House No. 39, Sapphire Greens, Vidhan Sabha Road, Raipur (C.G.) 493111 Permanent Address 96, Diamond Harbour Road, Khidarpur, Kolkata 700023 ... Applicant(s)

versus

1 - Central Bureau of Investigation Through Branch Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.)

2 – Director, Central Bureau of Investigation Head Office CGO Complex, New Delhi ... Respondent(s)

For Applicant(s) : Mr. Anil Pillai and Mr. Gendesh Dadsena, Advocates. For Respondent(s) : Mr. B. Gopa Kumar (through Video Conferencing) and Mr. Himanshu Pandey, Advocates.

Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha , Chief Justice

Order on Board

26/11/2025

1.

The applicant has preferred this first bail application under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, the BNSS) in connection with Crime No. RC-1242025A0002/2025, registered at Police Station- ACB/CBI/Raipur, District Raipur, for the offences under Sections 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short, the BNS) and Sections 7, 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in

2018).

2.

The prosecution case, in short, is that on 30.01.2025, the complainant Lalchand Athwani submitted a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, CBI, Raipur, stating that he was the proprietor of an establishment, namely, M/s The World of Beauty, located on Station Road, Durg. On 28.01.2025, at approximately 6 p.m., a team led by accused Bharat Singh, Superintendent of Central GST, raided his shop, but he was not there at the time. On 29.01.2025, at 7 a.m., he arrived at the shop with his brother, Naveen Athwani, and found accused Bharat Singh and other CGST employees and officers there. Accused Bharat Singh asked the complainant to come to Raipur to meet with his senior officer to resolve the matter. He then drove the complainant to Raipur in his Innova car, bearing Registration No. CG-04-NB-9911. An employee of the CGST, accused Vinay reached Starbux Coffee House located at Currency Tower. There, they met a person who introduced himself as Commissioner Mishra. He said that a tax of Rs. 70,00,000/- was due in connection with the raid on his shop. Finally, he asked for Rs. 45 lakhs, of which Rs.11,00,000/- should be deposited as tax and the remaining Rs.34,00,000/- should be given as bribe. He got the bills prepared for the last 4-5 months in the handwriting of the complainant’s employees. The complainant did not want to pay the said amount, hence he made a complaint to the CBI. On this basis, a case was registered against co- accused Bharat Singh and others by the CBI/ACB/Chhattisgarh, Raipur bearing RC No. 1242025A0002 for the offences under Sections 61(2) of the BNS read with Section 7, 7A of the PC Act (as Amended 2018).

3.

According to the prosecution, during the proceedings, one co-accused Vinay Rai was caught red handed while obtaining Rs. 5 Lacs as bribe. During the investigation, voice recordings were obtained of mobile phone conversations between the complainant, Vinay Rai, and the alleged Mishra @ Anil Kumar Gupta, regarding the bribe amount. A transcript of this voice recording was also attached to the charge sheet and submitted. A thorough and meticulous review of the transcript reveals that the name of co-accused Bharat Singh also appears during the conversation, and he is addressed as "Sir" at several points. According to the prosecution, there is prima facie evidence that co-accused Bharat Singh, in connivance with other co-accused Vinay Rai and the applicant who was named as Mishra @ Anil Kumar Gupta, in a planned manner, demanded bribe from the complainant in lieu of reducing the huge amount of tax evaded and in the process, co-accused Vinay Rai received a sum of Rs. 5,00,000/-. The allegation against the applicant is that he claimed himself to be the Commissioner of GST Department and impersonated himself as Mishraji.

4.

Mr. Anil Pillai, learned