Criminal prosecution based on quashed assessment orders cannot continue when the complaint's foundation no longer survives.

Criminal proceedings based on cognizance orders cannot be sustained where the underlying assessment orders, which formed the foundation of the complaint, have already been quashed and remitted for fresh adjudication. The allegation concerned wrongful availment of input tax credit under the Jharkhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, but once the assessment proceedings no longer survived in their original form, the complaint lost its basis. Continuation of the prosecution in those circumstances was treated as abuse of process of law, and the cognizance orders and related criminal proceedings were quashed.

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Issues: Whether the criminal proceedings arising out of the cognizance orders could be sustained when the assessment proceedings forming their basis had already been quashed and remanded for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: The complaint was founded on the allegation that input tax credit had been wrongly availed for the relevant tax period, and the cognizance orders were based on the assessment and summary proceedings under the Jharkhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The earlier assessment orders, which constituted the foundation of the complaint, had already been quashed by the Division Bench and the matter had been remitted for fresh consideration. Once the very basis of the complaint no longer survived, continuation of the criminal proceedings would amount to abuse of process of law.

Conclusion: The criminal proceedings and the cognizance orders were quashed in favour of the petitioners.

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