2023 (2) TMI 647

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....ces punishable u/S.132 (1)(i) State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) Act, 2017 and Section 120B of IPC apprehends arrest and thus has filed this anticipatory bail application u/S.438 of Cr.P.C. 2. Shri Anil Khare, learned senior counsel along with Shri Priyank Agrawal and Shri Banmeet Singh Sarna, learned counsel for petitioner are heard on the question of admission. 3. Learned senior counsel for petitioner submits that the evidence collected in the investigation, which is still pending, is not incriminating. It is submitted that the default of tax evasion under the SGST Act alleged against the petitioner is primarily against co-accused, namely, Amit Awadhiya and Ajay Khanna. It is further urged that the need for custodial interrogation of th....

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....earned senior counsel for petitioner further contends that petitioner has no relationship with Commercial Corporation as alleged. It is submitted that in fact the co-accused Amit Awadhiya is the proprietor of the said Corporation. Shri Khare further submits that merely because the petitioner has accompanied the co-accused to the Bank for opening of account, does not lead to any inference much less conclusion that the petitioner is involved in the offences alleged. It is submitted that prosecution is merely groping in the dark and has found the petitioner to be an easy target to be falsely implicated. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel for prosecution has produced the case diary submitting that investigation is still pending and in fact ....

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....informed the other two co-accused, namely, Amit Awadhiya and Ajay Khanna were arrested and subjected to custodial interrogation and were granted default bail due to failure of prosecution to file charge sheet within 90 days. 5. The Apex Court in Siddharam Satlingappa Mhetre (supra) in regard to the scope and spirit of Section 438, Cr.P.C. laid down the following factors and parameters to be kept in mind while deciding prayer for anticipatory bail :- "(i) The nature and gravity of the accusation and the exact role of the accused must be properly comprehended before arrest is made; (ii) The antecedents of the applicant including the fact as to whether the accused has previously undergone imprisonment on conviction by a Court in respect o....

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.... as to the genuineness of the prosecution, in the normal course of events, the accused is entitled to an order of bail." 6. Testing the factual matrix attending the instant case on the anvil of law laid down by Apex Court as aforesaid, it is seen that the petitioner though had sent a request for exempting his appearance in response to the first summon issued in 2019 but thereafter as and when summons were issued and the Investigating Agency tried to trace the petitioner, the petitioner was not found anywhere. Farari Panchanamas were repeatedly drawn by the prosecuting agency after each and every attempt to trace the petitioner, but to no avail. The impression that is given to this Court by this conduct of the petitioner is that he is tryin....