CGST arrest procedure: written reasons to believe and communicated grounds of arrest are essential; bail cancellation was refused.

Under the CGST arrest framework, the Commissioner or authorised officer must record reasons to believe in writing before arrest, and the accused must be informed of the grounds of arrest. A standard-form arrest memo without case-specific reasons was treated as insufficient, and a remand report addressed only to the Magistrate did not replace disclosure to the accused. On that basis, the challenge did not show any illegality in the bail order, so cancellation of bail was not justified and the bail order remained undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the bail granted to the respondent was liable to be cancelled for alleged non-compliance with the arrest procedure under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, including the requirement of recorded reasons to believe.

Analysis: The petition sought cancellation of bail granted in a GST prosecution. The Court noted that arrest under the CGST framework requires the Commissioner or authorised officer to record reasons to believe in writing before arrest, and that the accused must be informed of the grounds of arrest. A standard-form arrest memo, without disclosed reasons tailored to the case, was not treated as sufficient to justify cancellation. The Court also noted that a remand report is addressed to the Magistrate for remand purposes and does not substitute disclosure of reasons to the accused. The challenge to bail therefore did not establish any ground warranting interference.

Conclusion: The request for cancellation of bail was rejected, and the bail order was left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: For arrest under the CGST regime, reasons to believe must be recorded in writing and the grounds of arrest must be communicated; absent a shown illegality in the bail order, cancellation is not warranted.

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