Bail granted under Section 483 B.N.S.S. for accused in tax credit and invoice fraud case with conditions

The HC granted bail to the petitioner accused of irregular input tax credit and issuing goods-less invoices without actual supply. Considering the case is triable exclusively by a judicial Magistrate, the offence is compoundable up to Rs. 5 crore, with Rs. 1.37 crore already deposited, absence of criminal antecedents, and the petitioner's judicial custody since May 2025, bail was allowed without commenting on the case merits. The petitioner was ordered released on furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 1,00,000 with two sureties of Rs. 50,000 each, depositing the passport with the trial court, and refraining from foreign travel without prior permission. The bail application under Section 483 B.N.S.S. was allowed.

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ISSUES:

Whether the petitioner is entitled to bail under Section 483 of BNSS for the offence under Section 132(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 involving issuance of goods-less invoices and input tax credit fraud.Whether the nature of the offence, amount involved, and trial court jurisdiction affect the grant of bail.Whether the petitioner's custodial period and compliance with conditions justify bail despite the economic offence allegations.The applicability of precedent judgments concerning bail in economic offence cases under GST laws.

RULINGS / HOLDINGS:

The court held that the offence under Section 132(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 is bailable and compundable up to Rupees five crore, with maximum punishment of five years and exclusively triable by the Judicial Magistrate.The petitioner is entitled to bail considering that Rs. 1,37,27,000/- of the alleged input tax credit has been deposited, the petitioner has no criminal antecedents, and has been in custody since 2.5.2025.The court relied on the Supreme Court's observation in Ratnambar Kaushik that "the evidence to be tendered ... would essentially be documentary and electronic" and that "there can be no apprehension of tampering, intimidating or influencing," favoring grant of bail.The bail was granted subject to furnishing personal bond and sureties, deposit of passport, and restrictions on foreign travel to ensure trial participation.

RATIONALE:

The court applied the legal framework under Section 132(1) of the CGST Act, 2017, and Section 483 of BNSS for bail applications.Precedents including the Supreme Court's decision in Ratnambar Kaushik were followed, emphasizing that bail may be granted when the evidence is documentary/electronic and the accused is not likely to tamper with evidence.The court noted the offence is triable exclusively by a Judicial Magistrate and compounding is permissible up to five crore rupees, influencing the bail decision.No dissenting or concurring opinions were recorded; the judgment reflects a conventional application of established principles balancing economic offence gravity with the right to bail.

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