Onerous bail conditions in GST prosecution struck down, with passport surrender and travel restraint substituted instead.

Bail conditions must secure attendance and protect the trial, but they cannot be so onerous that they effectively defeat release. In an alleged GST offence involving fraudulent input tax credit and misuse of GST credentials, the court treated a compulsory cash deposit as an excessive precondition on bail. The Rs. 1 crore deposit requirement was set aside as unjustified, while the seriousness of the allegations supported less burdensome safeguards. The substituted conditions required the accused to surrender the passport, produce it before the trial court, and not leave India without the court's permission.

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Issues: Whether the condition requiring the accused to deposit Rs. 1 crore for release on bail was so onerous as to warrant interference and substitution with a less burdensome condition.

Analysis: The petition arose from an alleged GST offence involving fraudulent input tax credit and misuse of GST credentials. While bail conditions may be imposed to secure attendance, prevent absconding, and guard against tampering with evidence, such conditions must remain reasonable and not defeat the grant of bail. A cash deposit may be accepted in appropriate cases, but it is not to be imposed as a harsh or excessive precondition where it effectively prevents release. On the facts, the trial court's direction to deposit Rs. 1 crore was found unjustified, though the gravity of the allegations justified imposing a travel restriction and requiring surrender of the passport.

Conclusion: The condition directing deposit of Rs. 1 crore was set aside and replaced by the conditions to produce the passport before the trial court and not leave India without its permission.

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