TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (9) TMI 870
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....ng thereby that investigation of the case has already been completed. [5] The genesis of the abovementioned criminal prosecution may be traced to when the petitioner was served with a notice under Section 50 of Cr.P.C. by the Superintendent of State Tax Assam, BIEO, Assam, Srimantapur, Guwahati-32 (hereinafter referred to as the respondent No. 2), in reference to B.I. (E.O.) Assam Tax P.E. No. 03(03)/2021 under the provision of Section 132(1) (i) of the Assam GST Act, 2017 (in short "the AGST Act") alleging that sufficient materials have been found against the petitioner regarding his involvement in evasion of taxes and Cess, amounting to more than Rs. 5, 00, 00,000/- (Five Crores) which is a cognizable offence under Section 132(1)(i) AGST Act. It was further alleged that the petitioner is found to have deliberately supplied goods without issuing invoices in violation of the provisions of AGST Act with intention to evade Tax during the period of 2019 to 2021. Pursuant to issue of the said notice under Section 50 Cr.P.C. the petitioner was arrested on 12.07.2021 and was forwarded to the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup Metro, Assam vide the Forwarding Report, dated 12.07....
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....Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Otherwise, if the former is the only test, we would not be balancing the constitutional rights but rather "recalibrating the scales of justice." "46. We are conscious of the fact that the accused are charged with economic offences of huge magnitude. We are also conscious of the fact that the offences alleged, if proved, may jeopardise the economy of the country. At the same time, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the investigating agency has already completed investigation and the charge-sheet is already filed before the Special Judge, CBI, New Delhi. Therefore, their presence in the custody may not be necessary for further investigation. We are of the view that the appellants are entitled to the grant of bail pending trial on stringent conditions in order to ally the apprehension expressed by CBI." [8] Mr. Choudhury, learned counsel for the petitioner has further referred to the decision rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of P. Chidambaram vs. Directorate of Enforcement, reported in (2020) 13 SCC 791 and particularly para 16 thereof. The said para is quoted below for convenience of consideration of ....
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....fences to which he replied that the petitioner is likely to exercise his option only on release on bail. [10] The learned Public Prosecutor has referred to the decision rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Nimmagadda Prasad vs. Central Bureau of Investigation, reported in (2013) 7 SCC 466, and particularly paras 23, 24 and 25 thereof. The said paras are quoted herein below for convenience of consideration: "23. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the country has been seeing an alarming rise in white-collar crimes, which has affected the fibre of the country's economic structure. Incontrovertibly, economic offences have serious repercussions on the development of the country as a whole. In State of Gujarat vs. Mohanlal Jitamalji Porwal and Anr. (1987) 2 SCC 364 this Court, while considering a request of the prosecution for adducing additional evidence, inter alia, observed as under:- "5.....The entire community is aggrieved if the economic offenders who ruin the economy of the State are not brought to book. A murder may be committed in the heat of moment upon passions being aroused. An economic offence is committed with cool calculatio....
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.... to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country." "35. While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of the public/State and other similar considerations." Since both the judgments, referred to by the learned Public Prosecutor, are authored by the same Hon'ble Judge of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and delivered on the same day, on the same nature of issue involved, this Court would like to refer one of these two judgments as that will cover the argument advanced by the learned Public Prosecutor. [12] There is no dispute at the bar that final offence report has been laid in this case. There is also no dispute at the bar that the accused-petitioner has been in custody....