TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (4) TMI 599
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....aged in availing fraudulent ITC from the sham subsidiaries of M/S Pacific Packing Industries. Furthermore, ITC benefits to the tune of Rs. 5,02,21,055 were acquired by the petitioner's firm and M/S Harihara Enterprises, by way of fake bills without the actual supply of goods. 3. Per contra, the learned counsel for the Petitioner earnestly submitted that the allegations made against the Petitioner in the prosecution report are bald allegations which lack the backing of any substantial evidence. It was contended that the Petitioner was held responsible for availing a total GST amount to the tune of Rs. 5, 02, 21, 055 against M/S Sony Iron and Steel Trading Co and M/S Harihara Enterprises. However, the petitioner is the proprietor of only the former company and the later is under the proprietorship of Dhanjaya Suna. The petitioner has been arrayed as an accused for the acts and omission of M/S Harihara Enterprises as well, but solely on the basis of his own confession. Law is well settled that the confession of the accused cannot be used against him. It has been submitted that the investigation/enquiry officer has wrongly calculated that date sheet details and has thereby, erred in i....
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....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 fundamental canon of criminal jurisprudence viz.....
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.... 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. 7. 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 84 (2000) DLT 854 and H.B. Chaturvedi v. CBI CRL.M (BAIL) 459/2010 , whereinthe 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 objectives of society specified in the Constitutio....
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....r 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 variable factors the considerations w....
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....d but not in others. Not only in the case of economic offences but also in the case of other offences the Court will have 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 nonbailable 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." 8. 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 of Odisha BLAPL No. 4125 of 2020 wherein this court had the occasion to elaborately d....