9911796707
TMI Blog2022 (3) TMI 586X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... misappropriation, there is loss to government treasury of Rs. 5,98,29,882/-, out of which an amount of Rs. 1,98,75,998/- had been recovered and at present, an amount of Rs. 3,99,53,884/- is yet to be recovered from the petrol pump traders. It is alleged that Advocate Kamlesh Heruwala, Accountant Sagar Banawala, Senior Clerk Nareshbhai Savabhai Chowdhury, Senior Clerk Prakashbhai Jagdishbhai Chudi had made the postings from the login ID of other employees. Thus it is alleged against the present applicant, a Sales Tax Officer, who retired as Tax Superintendent, that in connivance with Advocate Kamlesh Heruwala and others, under the VAT Act, fraudulent postings and assessment had been done in relation to the registered traders. 3. The main allegations against the present applicant is to the effect that the Login I.D. of the applicant was used to cause 207 entries in VAT is system, out of which 29 dealers generated acknowledgment receipt to the tune of Rs. 86,22,879/-. Further, it is alleged that with regard to the assessment of 4 dealers for the financial year 2015 - 2016, manual challans were approved without due verification. The details are as under :- (i) Jayshree Gabbarwali Pe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Tis are not connected while posting entries in VATis. No data from IFMS Software is shared or made available on VATIS. 4.4. It is submitted that the alleged 209 entries have been made abusing the User I.D. and Password of the applicant by his Tax Consultant and other clerical staff of the Department, of which the present applicant neither had any knowledge nor such alleged entries having the participation of the present applicant could be found. It is further submitted that the facts of the First Information Report itself suggests that the Tax Consultant Kamlesh Heruwala and others in conspiracy with the other accused have been indulging in such malpractices since long and as such, a false First Information Report has been lodged against the present applicant who was upright and honest, had an unblemished career and no complaint or memo has ever been issued to the applicant. It is submitted that the applicant on 13.11.1981 joined the Department and at the time of his retirement in July 2020 was working as a State Tax Officer at Deesa. 4.5. Learned Advocate for the applicant Mr. Barot sought to rely on the Departmental Circular of Commercial Tax, Commercial Office dated 05.09.2011 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble into the Government treasury in the manner prescribed, the whole amount due from traders according to such return shall be furnished alongwith a receipt showing full payment of such amount. It is submitted that Rule 26 of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Rules, 2006 provides the way in which the registered dealers have to submit Form No.207 and here in this case, it is submitted that no money has been deposited in the Government treasury. Rule 26 permits the dealer to submit to the Commercial Tax Officer one copy of the Challan receipt in Form No.207 on or before the date prescribed for submission of return. Section 34 of the Act, 2003 lays down the manner in which the yearly audit assessment has to be conducted. 5.1. It is submitted that the applicant being a Sales Tax Officer was required to have a detailed scrutiny and in the present case, it was found that acknowledgment receipt issued did not tally with IFMS treasury data. It is submitted that the present applicant facilitated the dealing with the Sales Tax Consultant and the other staff of the Department to manipulate the challans while no such payment as shown in the Challan was made in the Government Treasury for its reflec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nspiracy by all and considering the offence of such a magnitude, it was urged to reject the application for grant of bail. 6. Heard learned Advocates on both the sides and perused the material on record. With regard to the allegations of the applicant's connivance with the co-accused, incase of manual challans of four dealers in respect of 2015-2016, is stated to have been produced but the allegations against the present applicant is that those were approved without due verification. The Departmental Circular dated 05.09.2011 referred to, gives direction to the Dealers to adopt the E-payment mode for the tax payment above Rs. 10,00,000/- while option has been given to the tax payment below the level of Rs. 10,00,000/-. Here in the case of assessment of four dealers, the tax so assessed is below Rs. 10,00,000/-. This requires the production of Form No.207 which shows that the duplicate of the Challan is required to sent to the CTU. The triplicate copy is for the treasury and the duplicate is to be sent to the CTU. The information with regard to the payment of the challan would be in the VATis system. 6.1. Reliance has been placed on the provision of law under Section 34 of the Guj ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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