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TMI Blog2020 (4) TMI 442X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... etitioner in W.P.No.7435 of 2020, viz. Choe Jae Won, the General Manager of Chowel India Private Limited and the Petitioner in W.P.No.7437 of 2020, viz. Choi Yong Suk, the Managing Director of the said Company, were arrested on 24.06.2019 and remanded to judicial custody invoking the power of arrest under Section 69 of CGST Act, 2017. The said Company is engaged in the business of manufacturing Cowl bar, Bumper and seat frames used in Motor vehicles. 4. The allegation against the Company is that, it collected GST from their buyers, and has not remitted the same to the Government of India, since August 2017. The liability was assessed to the tune of Rs. 40,00,37,447/- (Rupees Forty Crores Thirty Seven Thousand Four Hundred and Forty Seven only). For the said reason, the Enforcement Compliance Management Section of the GST, initiated prosecution against the Petitioners herein for the offence under Section 132(1)(d) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act, 2017) in R.R.No.20/2019 in C.No.IV/06/107/2019-ECM. 5. Petitioners were enlarged on interim bail till 11th September 2019, by an order of this Court dated 09.08.2019 made in Crl.O.P.No.19957 of 2019 with a conditi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r the Petitioners that, the Petitioners herein ensure that, they will abide by the conditions imposed by this Court, and that, they will not move from Kancheepuram District, till normalcy is back, and thereafter, they are willing to come back to the Special Camp in Tiruchirapalli District. 11. Learned Additional Advocate General appearing for Respondents 1, 3 and 4, highly objecting to the contentions of the learned counsel for the Petitioners, submitted that, at present, none detained in the Special Camp in Tiruchirapalli District is infected with COVID-19 and that, safety measures are taken by the Authorities. He further submitted that, there are 40 rooms available in the Special Camp in Tiruchirapalli District, wherein, 73 inmates are confined and that, sufficient space is available to maintain social distancing norms among the inmates. According to him, Petitioners alone cannot be shown any indulgence by permitting them to reside in their respective residences, and in the event of granting the relief sought by the Petitioners, there is every possibility of other inmates knocking at the doors of this Court seeking similar relief, in which event, a different yardstick cannot be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s adequate for the existing inmates." 13. According to Mr.N.P.Kumar, learned Special Public Prosecutor appearing for the 2nd Respondent, the case against the Petitioners herein, is that, they have collected GST amounting to at least Rs. 40,00,37,447/- from the customers, during the period from August 2017 to February 2019, but, failed to deposit the tax collected to the Exchequer, which had resulted in taking cognizance against them for offences punishable under Section 132(1)(d) of the CGST Act, 2017, Section 132(1)(d) of the TNSGST Act, 2017 and Section 20(xxi) of the IGST Act, 2017. He further submitted that, after completion of the investigation, Charge Sheet in C.C.No.1 of 2020 has already been filed against the Petitioners before the learned Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offences-I), Egmore Chennai, and the same is pending for trial. 14. Learned Special Public Prosecutor went on to state that, on investigation, it was found that, Petitioners have not been residing in the address furnished by them and that, they initially resided in Hotel Flamingo, Shanti Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai-40 along with another Korean national and thereafter, they vacated the s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the GST period i.e. from July'2017 to Feb'2019. 11. The 2nd Respondent further submits that there is significant flight risk involved, in case they are given bail. Therefore, it is important that they remain in the Special Camp in Trichy, to ensure they do not flee the country before the completion of the on-going investigation (under GST enactment and other acts) and to attend the prosecution launched against them in E.O.C.C. No. 01/2020 which is pending before E.O.1 Court, Egmore and to complete the trial. Further, as order for sending the accused to special camp at Trichy was given by Public (Foreigners) Department, Tamil Nadu in exercise the power conferred under section 3(2)(e) of the Foreigners Act,1946 and hence it is not arbitrary. The 2nd Respondent submits that aggrieved by the order of sending the Petitioner to the Special camp, the Petitioner and his General Manager preferred the H.C.P.'s and they are pending before this Hon'ble Court in HCP No.2776/2019 registration date 05.12.2019, in respect of Choi Yong Suk and H.C.P. No.2767/2019 registration date 06.12.2019, in respect of Choe Jae Won." 16. Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the doc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ey are tested positive for COVID-19 on account of shifting them, then, the entire area in which they reside will be sealed, and chances of spreading the virus to other people residing in Kancheepuram District, will be high. Instead of eradicating the pandemic, the Court will directly be responsible for spreading the virus to innocent persons. 22. Furthermore, when there are other persons quarantined with the Petitioners in the Special Camp in Tiruchirapalli District, a different yardstick cannot be applied to the Petitioners alone. This will not only set an unfair precedent, but will also open the pandora's box, paving way to other persons detained in the Special Camp in Tiruchirapalli District to approach this Court for similar orders. Ultimately, the State machinery will crash. 23. It appears that, the Petitioners herein are unable to realize the consequences of the prevailing pandemic. When the Central and State Governments are taking effective steps to prevent further spread of COVID- 19, public, as responsible citizens must extend utmost co-operation to the Government in eradicating this pandemic and shall not try to disrupt the functioning of the Government. We must realize ..... 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