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2020 (12) TMI 1119 - HC - GSTGrant of Bail - allegation of bogus input tax credit, secured on the strength of fake and fabricated invoices without supply of any physical goods to such other existing and non-existing firms - Section 132(1)(i) of the OGST Act, 2017 - HELD THAT:- The evidence is largely based on documentary evidence. Once the charge-sheet has been filed unless antecedents to the contrary can be demonstrated, the presence of the accused may not be required to take the prosecution to its logical conclusion. The object of the law in question is to act as a deterrent in blocking loopholes in an otherwise nascent law which concerns itself with the collection of revenue for the State. Section 132(1)(i) of the Act provides that in cases where the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilized or the amount of refund wrongly taken, exceeds five hundred lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine. Similarly, Section 132(ii) of the Act provides a punishment with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine when the amount in question is greater than ₹ 2 crores but does not exceed ₹ 5 crores. There is no hard and fast rule and no inflexible principle governing the exercise of such discretion by the Courts. There cannot be an inexorable formula in the matter of granting bail. The facts and circumstances of each case will govern the exercise of judicial discretion in granting or refusing bail. The answer to the question whether to grant bail or not depends upon a variety of circumstances, the cumulative effect of which must enter into the judicial verdict. Any one single circumstance cannot be treated as of universal validity or as necessarily justifying the grant or refusal of bail. For the purpose of granting or refusing bail there is no classification of the offences except the ban under Section 437(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code against grant of bail in the case of offences punishable with death or life imprisonment. Hence there is no statutory support or justification for classifying offences into different categories such as economic offences and for refusing bail on the ground that the offence involved belongs to a particular category. When the Court has been granted discretion in the matter of granting bail and when there is no statute prescribing a special treatment in the case of a particular offence the Court cannot classify the cases and say that in particular classes bail may be granted but not in others - Several High Courts have also opined that while granting bail, the Court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of the public and the State and other similar considerations and have granted bail to the persons accused under section 132 of the CGST Act. The petitioner is directed to be released on bail on furnishing a bail bond of ₹ 5,00,000/- with one surety for the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court with the conditions imposed - petitioner shall co-operate with the trial and shall not seek unnecessary adjournments on frivolous grounds to protract the trial - bail application allowed.
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