IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH

AT JABALPUR

BEFORE

HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE SANDEEP N. BHATT

th

ON THE 15 OF JANUARY, 2026

MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 49890 of 2025

MD. TANJIMUL ASHAD KHAN

Versus

THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

Appearance:

Shri Navneet Shukla - Advocate for the applicant.

Shri A Rajeshwar Rao - Advocate for the respondent.

ORDER but a larger loan could be secured if he formed a proprietorship firm and obtained GST registration in the name of the said firm. Acting on this inducement and false assurance, the complainant registered a firm in the name of Maa Narmada Traders for which documents such as Aadhaar, PAN, bank statements, land records and loan books were handed over to the co- accused. It is further alleged that without the complainant's consent, the co- accused got registered an email ID jdrealities99@gmail.com in the GST records and also registered the complainant’s son’s mobile number for GSTOTP verifications. That subsequently, GST Registration No.23ALLPL1056B1ZM was issued in the name of Maa Narmada Traders. However, the complainant never carried out any business through the said registration. Later, when GST authorities visited the complainant, he was informed that tax dues to the tune of Rs 72,66,408/- were outstanding against the said firm. This came as a shock to the complainant, as bogus transactions of crores of rupees had been shown in the name of Maa Narmada Traders without his knowledge or involvement. It is further stated that, co-accused N.K. Khare and Satyam Soni had fraudulently filed GST returns in respect of Maa Narmada Traders by misusing OTPs and documents of the complainant. Further probe disclosed that apart from Maa Narmada Traders, several other bogus firms were floated, namely Namami Traders, Maa Rewa Traders, and Abhijeet Traders, all allegedly used to generate fake GST returns and fraudulent transactions. It is further stated that, through these bogus firms, the accused persons, including the present applicant, carried out fictitious transactions in collusion with various entities, such as K.D. Sales Corporation, Dilip Traders, Ankita Steel & Maa Jagdamba Coal Carriers, Mahak Enterprises, Koraj Technic, Mahamaya Traders, Ambar Coal Depot, and Anam Traders. Forged documents were used to support these fraudulent GST returns, causing a wrongful loss of approximately Rs 33.80 Crores to the State exchequer.

This is the first application filed by the applicant under Section 482 of

BNSS, 2023 for grant of anticipatory bail relating to Crime No.102/2025 registered at Police Station - Economic Offences Wing, Bhopal District Bhopal (M.P.) for commission of offences under Sections 409, 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 read with Section 120-B of the IPC and Section 66-D of the IT Act. Applicant is apprehending his arrest in the aforesaid offence has filed

this application for grant of anticipatory bail.

2. According to the story of prosecution as enunciated in the FIR dated 21.06.2025, the genesis of the case is a complaint submitted by one Pratap Singh Lodhi, an agriculturist and resident of Village Dhaneta, Tehsil Patan, District Jabalpur. The complainant alleged that he was in need of a loan and approached co-accused N.K. Kharealias Vinod Kumar Sahay, who induced him by stating that only a small loan could be availed on agricultural land,

3. Learned counsel appearing for the applicant submits that various High Courts have considered the matter pertaining to Section 132 of the GST Act and have held that if the amount involved is more than Rs.5 Crores then maximum punishment prescribed is five years and there is no embargo under the GST Act for consideration of application for grant of anticipatory bail. It is contended that considering the chain of events and considering the fact that GST authority have also resorted for offences punishable under the IPC, such practice adopted by the GST authorities is not approved by various High Courts and even some of the complaints have been quashed.

4. It is put forth that in the