TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (2) TMI 948
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....dentity proof. The same was done behind their back, in order to avail and utilize bogus input tax credit of an amount of Rs. 20.45 crores on the strength of fraudulent purchase invoices without any physical receipt or actual purchase of goods. As such both of them are alleged to be part of a collusion to evade taxes to the tune of approximately Rs. 42.00 crores and therefore are liable for the payment of the same under Section 132 of the OGST Act, 2017. 3. Per contra, the Ld. Counsel for the Petitioners earnestly submitted that the allegations made against the Petitioners in the prosecution report are bald allegations which are completely false and baseless. It was contended that the Petitioner No. 1 was a mere BLAPL Nos.776 & 6687 of 2021 Page 3 of 14 employee who has dutifully followed the directions and orders of his superiors. Similarly, Petitioner No. 2 was in no way connected to the case as he is a mere paan shop owner and has no nexus to the alleged fraud in any way whatsoever and has been embroiled in the matter merely because he is the brother of Petitioner No. 1. It has bene submitted that the alleged fraud has been perpetrated by someone else and the present Petitioners....
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....or body, that he shall appear before the justices of goal delivery at the next sessions, etc. Then upon the bonds of these sureties, as is aforesaid, he is bailed-that is to say, set at liberty until the day appointed for his appearance.' Bail may thus be regarded as a mechanism whereby the State devolutes upon the community the function of securing the presence of the prisoners, and at the same time involves participation of the community in administration of justice. 7. Personal liberty is fundamental and can be circumscribed only by some process sanctioned by law. Liberty of a citizen is undoubtedly important but this is to balance with the security of the community. A balance is required to be maintained between the personal liberty of the accused and the investigational right of the police. It must result in minimum interference with the personal liberty of the accused and the right of the police to investigate the case. It has to dovetail two conflicting demands, namely, on the one hand the requirements of the society for being shielded from the hazards of being exposed to the misadventures of a person alleged to have committed a crime; and on the other, the fundam....
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....d circumstances of each particular case. It was also held that detention in custody of under-trial prisoners for an indefinite period would amount to violation of Article 21 of the Constitution was highlighted. 6. It would also be apposite at this juncture to reproduce the Hon'ble Delhi High Court's succinct elucidation of the legal position in matters pertaining to bail as laid down in Anil Mahajan v. Commissioner of Customs 484 (2000) DLT 854 and H.B. Chaturvedi v. CBI CRL.M (BAIL) 459/2010, wherein the Hon'ble High Court after considering the judgments, inter alia, in Gurcharan Singh v. State (Delhi Administration) (1978) 1 SCC 118 and Gudikanti Narasimhulu v. Public Prosecutor (1978) 1 SCC 240, observed as follows: "14. The legal position emerging from the above discussion can be summarised as follows: (a) Personal liberty is too precious a value of our Constitutional System recognised under Article 21 that the crucial power to negate it is a great trust exercisable not casually but judicially, with lively concern for the cost to the individual and the community. Deprivation of personal freedom must be founded on the most serious considerations relevant to the welfare obje....
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....t be an inexorable formula in the matter of granting bail. The facts and circumstances of each case will govern the exercise of judicial discretion in granting or refusing bail. The answer to the question whether to grant bail or not depends upon a variety of circumstances, the cumulative effect of which must enter into the judicial verdict. Any one single circumstance cannot be treated as of universal validity or as necessarily justifying the grant or refusal of bail. (i) While exercising the discretion to grant or refuse bail the Court will have to take into account various considerations like the nature and seriousness of the offence; the circumstances in which the offence was committed; the character of the evidence; the circumstances which are peculiar to the accused; a reasonable apprehension of witnesses being influenced and evidence being tampered with; the larger interest of the public or the State; the position and status of the accused with reference to the victim and the witness; the likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice; the likelihood of the accused repeating the offence; the history of the case as well as the stage of investigation, etc. In view of so many....
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....hat in particular classes bail may be granted but not in others. Not only in the case of economic offences but also in the case of other offences the Court will have BLAPL Nos.776 & 6687 of 2021 Page 11 of 14 to consider the larger interest of the public or the State. Hence only the considerations which should normally weigh with the Court in the case of other non-bailable offences should apply in the case of economic offences also. It cannot be said that bail should invariably be refused in cases involving serious economic offences. (o) Law does not authorise or permit any discrimination between a foreign National and an Indian National in the matter of granting bail. What is permissible is that, considering the facts and circumstances of each case, the Court can impose different conditions which are necessary to ensure that the accused will be available for facing trial. It cannot be said that an accused will not be granted bail because he is a foreign national." 7. This court has also had the prior occasion of dealing with a similar application for grant of bail in a case relating to prosecution under the provisions of the OGST Act, 2017 the case of Pramod Kumar Sahoo v State....