Anticipatory bail in Income-tax complaint proceedings may be granted when custodial arrest is unnecessary and liberty is unlikely to be misused.

Anticipatory bail under Section 438 CrPC may be granted in Income-tax Act complaint proceedings where custodial arrest is not shown to be necessary, the accused has remained available to the authorities, and there is no real risk of absconding or misuse of liberty. The Rajasthan HC noted that the petitioner had cooperated with proceedings, had no demonstrated criminal antecedents, had deposited the tax demanded, and that objections and appeals against the assessment remained pending. On those circumstances, and applying the caution governing pre-arrest protection, the Court granted anticipatory bail subject to conditions.

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Issues: Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner in a complaint case under the Income-tax Act, and whether the surrounding circumstances justified protection from arrest.

Analysis: The application arose from prosecution complaints under the Income-tax Act and the arrest of the petitioner was sought after the search, complaint, and tax-related proceedings had already remained pending for a considerable time. The petitioner had remained available within jurisdiction, had no other criminal antecedents shown, had deposited the tax demanded, and the matter was still sub judice because objections and appeals against the assessment order were pending. Applying the principles governing Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the caution indicated by the Supreme Court, the Court found no sufficient basis to refuse pre-arrest protection.

Conclusion: Anticipatory bail was granted in favour of the petitioner, subject to the conditions imposed by the Court.

Ratio Decidendi: Anticipatory bail may be granted where the proceedings are complaint-based, the accused has been available to the authorities, further investigation is not shown to require custodial arrest, and there is no real likelihood of absconding or misuse of liberty.

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