New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) A Delhi court has granted bail to eight persons in a case of alleged fraudulent GST refunds, saying they are poor persons who are languishing in custody.

According to prosecution, the scam involved around 500 non-existent firms claiming bogus GST refunds worth approximately Rs 54 crore between July 1, 2017 and Aug 26, 2021.

Special Judge Ashish Aggarwal granted the relief to Imran, Akram Ali, Hanzala, Intezar, Ankur Saluja, Parmod Kumar, Manoj Goyal and Manoj Kumar in an order passed on January 14.

The judge noted that there was sufficient indication about involvement of other accused persons, including those who owned and controlled the 96 firms which had already obtained GST refund and the authorized signatory of the firms, and yet no action was taken against them.

"The applicants are poor persons who are languishing in custody for about 90 days," the judge said.

According to the prosecution, the accused had allegedly conspired to register bogus firms to claim GST refunds without conducting actual business.

The firms, claimed to be exporting medicines and medical items, were doing business only on paper, it claimed.

The investigation revealed glaring procedural lapses and malpractices by GST officials, the prosecution claimed. PTI UK ZMN

GST refund fraud: bail granted to accused amid custodial detention and indications of wider third party involvement. Grant of bail to eight accused in an alleged GST refund fraud where firms allegedly existed only on paper to claim export-related refunds for medicines; prosecution cites conspiracy to register bogus exporters and procedural malpractices, while the court noted wider involvement of firm owners and authorized signatories and the applicants' prolonged custody and indigence in evaluating continued detention.