Anticipatory bail in GST input tax credit case granted where custodial interrogation was not shown to be necessary.

Anticipatory bail was granted in a GST-related prosecution where the allegation was that forged receipts were used to wrongfully claim input tax credit without movement of goods. The court noted that the petitioner was not arrayed as an accused at the stage of registration of crime, the other accused had already been apprehended, and the concerned proprietors had paid the penalty. As custodial interrogation was not shown to be necessary, pre-arrest protection was allowed subject to conditions.

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Issues: Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner in connection with the alleged GST-related offence involving forged receipts and wrongful claim of input tax credit.

Analysis: The petitioner was not arrayed as an accused at the stage of registration of crime, the other accused had already been apprehended, and the allegation against the petitioner was confined to claiming input tax credit without movement of goods. The record also indicated that the concerned proprietors had already paid the penalty. In these circumstances, the need for custodial interrogation was not shown to outweigh the case for pre-arrest protection.

Conclusion: Anticipatory bail was granted to the petitioner subject to conditions.

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