TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (9) TMI 1289
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....616/2024, 19304/2024. 26838/2024, 26942/2024. Hon'ble Mrs. Manju Rani Chauhan, J. For the Applicants : Mr. Kamal Krishna Sr. Advocate, Mr. Manish Tiwary, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Vinay Saran Sr. Advocate, Mr. Arvind Srivastava, Advocate, Mr. Prakhar Saran Srivastava, Advocate, Mr. Eshan Lamba, Advocate, Mr. Aushim Luthra, Advocate, Mr. Vineet Sankalp, Advocate, Mr. Sikandar Khan, Advocate, Mr. Siddharth Srivastava, Advocate, Mr. Bharat Singh Pal, Advocate, Mr. Amit Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Jitendra Dwivedi, Advocate, Mr. Vinod Kumar Tripathi, Advocate, Mr. Sudhir Kumar Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Deo Kumar Tripathi, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Kumar Singh, Advocate, Mr. Ashok Kumar Dubey, Advocate, Mr. Alok Kumar Singh, Advocate, Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Advocate, Mr. Hitesh Pachori, Advocate, Mr. Saurabh Basu, Advocate, Mr. Abhinay Bhattacharya, Advocate, Mr. Jagdish Prasad Mishra, Advocate. For the Opposite Party : Mr. Manish Goel, Sr. Advocate/ Additional Advocate General, U.P., Mr. Amit Singh Chauhan, AGA-I, Mr. Mayank Awasthi, Brief Holder, Mr. Rishi Kumar, Additional Chief Standing Counsel, Mr. Nitesh Srivastava, AGA. ORDER HON'BLE MRS. MANJU RANI CHAUHAN,J. 1. This bunch of bail ap....
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....ataum Buddh Nagar 15. 55245/2023 Sumit Garg @ Chacha 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 16. 6728/2024 Dolsy Murjhani 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 17. 8746/2024 Dolsy Murjhani 248/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 18. 9061/2024 Dolsy Murjhani 255/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 19. 10526/2024 Jatin Murjani 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 20. 10527/2024 Jatin Murjani 248/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 21. 10528/2024 Jatin Murjani 255/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 22. 6882/2024 Gaurav Singh @ Gaurav Singhal 255/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 23. 5007/2024 Amit @ Moti @ Motu 248/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 24. 50753/2023 Akash Saini 255/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 25. 10603/2024 Akash Saini 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471....
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....@ Moti @ Motu 255/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 48. 16999/2024 Amit @ Moti @ Motu 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 49. 17749/2024 Rakesh Dialani 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 50. 17802/2024 Rakesh Dialani 255/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 51. 17809/2024 Rakesh Dialani 248/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 52. 18616/2024 Atul Gupta 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 53. 19304/2024 Dilip Sharma 203/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 54. 26838/2024 Piyush Kumar Gupta 255/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 55. 26942/2024 Piyush Kumar Gupta 248/2023 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120B IPC Noida Sector-20 Gataum Buddh Nagar 3. As per prosecution version in FIR/Case Crime No. 203/2023, dated 04.05.2023 under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC, Police Station Noida Sector-20, Gataum Buddh Nagar, the informant Saurabh Dwivedi is a journali....
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....oida. Thus, the FIR has been lodged. 5. As per prosecution version in FIR/Case Crime No. 255/2023, dated 08.06.2023 under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B IPC, Police Station Noida Sector-20, Gataum Buddh Nagar, the informant - Arvind Kumar Yadav, on being known about arrest of some persons who illegally got GST registration using PAN Card of the persons, checked on GSTSEARCH.in and found that three fake GST Numbers detailed in the FIR bearing: (1) GST No. 24ABBP43323J12N, (2) GST No. 24ABBPY43323J2ZM and (3) GST No. 06ABBPY3323J12L have been obtained by someone, whereas he or his family member never obtained any GST Number and has no concern with the firms. He has stated that his documents have been misused. Hence, the FIR has been lodged. 6. The applicants have preferred bail applications in respective First Information Reports/ Case Crime Numbers, details whereof according to case crime number, are being enumerated in following chart: (i) Bail Applications in FIR/Case Crime No. 203 of 2023, dated 04.05.2023: Sl. No. Bail Application No. Applicant's Name 1. 53475/2023 Rajiv Jindal 2. 13386/2024 Pritam Garg @ Chacha 3. 16146/2024 Gaurav Singh @ Gaurav Singhal 4.....
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....AN and three GST Numbers have been obtained, whereas the applicant neither got any such firm opened nor obtained any GST Number, thus he prayed for legal action against the accused who have manipulated and misused his documents and lodged the first information report on 08.06.2023. 9. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. He is not named in first information report [FIR] . Placing forth the facts, learned counsel next submits that on 07.07.2023 when the applicant came back from Delhi after appearing in a competitive examination of IELTS, he along with his brother (deponent) were quizzed and exerted pressure to produce their father, however, on being asked the reason, the applicant was challaned on 09.07.2023. 10. To show the fair background of the applicant, it is stated that the applicant is a student of K.R. Mangalam University, Gurugram, State of Haryana, he is aged about 20 years and is a meritorious student. However, due to arrest he has missed his one semester. In paragraph-15 of the application, the applicant has averred that he is a heart patient and his bypass surgery has been done, f....
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....*** *** *** *** 38. Before parting with the judgment, we are reminded of the opening remarks. The respondent Karan Gambhir having misused the legal system by lodging false and frivolous complaint with nondisclosure of necessary facts must bear its costs. The registration of FIR at Noida despite having registered offices of companies in question at Delhi shows a wishful forum shopping by the Complainant, casting serious doubts on their bona fides. The Complainant had already sought remedy against amalgamation order before the High Court and the High Court had dismissed the same. However, Complainant chose to again use judicial mechanisms to raise his grievances. A criminal complaint was filed and FIR was registered against appellants despite the commercial nature of dispute. Such ill intended acts of abuse of power and of legal machinery seriously affect the public trust in judicial functioning. Thus, we find ourselves constrained to impose cost on Complainant with a view to curb others from such acts leading to abuse of judicial remedies." 13. It is also contended that neither FIR has been lodged at the concerned police station nor investigation has been done by it, thus, it ....
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....se of Haricharan Kurmi and another v. State of Bihar [AIR 1964 SC 1184 : 1964 SCC OnLine SC 28], learned counsel for the applicants has drawn attention of the Court to Paragraph-13 and argued that it has been held in the said judgement that Section 30 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 [The Act, 1872] provides that the court may take confession into consideration and thereby no doubt, makes it evidence on which the court may act; but the section does not say that the confession amounts to proof. Relevant excerpt of Paragraph-13 of said judgement is quoted herein below: "13. ... Section 30, however, provides that the court may take the confession into consideration and thereby, no doubt, makes it evidence on which the court may act; but the section does not say that the confession is to amount to proof. Clearly there must be other evidence. The confession is only one element in the consideration of all the facts proved the case; it can be put into the scale and weighed with the other evidence". It would be noticed that as a result of the provisions contained in Section 30, the confession has no doubt to be regarded as amounting to evidence in a general way, because whatever is consi....
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....on the basis of confessional statements of co-accused cannot be taken as a substantial piece of evidence. In support of his submissions, learned counsel for the applicants has relied upon the judgements of Supreme Court in the cases of Haricharan Kurmi & another v. State of Bihar [1964 SCC OnLine SC 28], Narcotics Control Bureau v. Pallulabid Ahmad Arimutta [(2022) 12 SCC 633], Union of India (NCB) etc. v. Khalil Uddin etc. [2022 SCC OnLine SC 2109], Bharat Chaudhary v. Union of India [(2021) 20 SCC 50], Sanjeev Chandra Agarwal v. Union of India [(2021) 20 SCC 57], Dinesh Kumar v. State of Himachal Pradesh [(2020) SCC OnLine HP 899], Dipakbhai Jagdishchandra Patel v. State of Gujarat [(2019) 16 SCC 547], and Surinder Kumar Khanna v. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence [(2018) 8 SCC 271]. 20. From the investigation as carried out, there is no evidence against the applicants regarding commission of the alleged offence as there is no allegation against the applicants of any overact or any meeting of mind between the applicants or other co-accused persons for commission of the offence. Thus, no offence under the relevant Sections is made out against the applicants. He has relied upon ....
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....ecoveries cannot be taken as a piece of credible evidence. 25. Sri Kamal Krishna, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Prakhar Saran Srivastava, learned Advocate argued the matter on behalf of the applicant - Manan Singhal in Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos. 55125 of 2023, 55131 of 2023, 55268 of 2023, and applicant - Sumit Garg alias Chacha in Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos. 55161 of 2023, 55235 of 2023, and 55245 of 2023. 26. Learned Senior Counsel submits that pursuant to the first information reports, the Investigating Officer proceeded with the investigation on receiving information about the accused Yaseen from an informer. Accordingly, Yaseen and Ashwani Pandey were arrested from Film City Flyover. Rs. 10,000/-, 5 SIM Cards, Aadhaar Card, PAN Card and a mobile phone were recovered from Ashwani Pandey. Two mobile phones, Rs. 1,88,000; 5 keypad mobile phones, 12 SIM Cards and a laptop were recovered from the possession of Yaseen. A data of 1891 and 680 firms was found on different excel sheets in the laptop. Fake PAN Cards, Aadhaar Cards and photographs were also found in pdf file. The data of informants of Case Crime Nos. 203 of 2023 and 248 of 2023 was also fou....
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....her car and few documents were recovered from the dashboard and the car key recovered belonged to Anchit's car as confessed by Manan, Sumit and Atul Gupta. Copy of recovery memo was given to only coaccused Atul Gupta. 33. On 22.06.2023 Skoda Rapid UP16-BD2278 was recovered from Sector-9, Rohini, Delhi and this car was opened with the key that was recovered from the vehicle from which Manan, Sumit and co-accused Atul Gupta were apprehended and after opening the aforesaid car, documents relating to alleged offence were found from the dashboard. 34. On 19.08.2023 and 20.08.2023 a large number of persons were examined and they made general allegation of misuse of their PAN Cards but they have not taken name of the applicants Sumit Garg and Manan Singhal which could connect them in the present case. 35. On 19.09.2023 a chargesheet has been filed against Sumit, Manan and Atul Gupta, however, no specific role has been attributed to Sumit and Manan, and only general allegations of involvement in conspiring in money trail is there. No offence under the relevant Sections is made out against Manan and Sumit as there is no allegation of any kind of deceit or inducement against them nor any ....
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....case of false implication as the police is implicating the friends and family of co-accused persons. Cousin of the applicants Manan and Sumit, namely, Gaurav Singhal was initially implicated and when the applicant met the co-accused Gaurav Singhal, they were also implicated in the case and arrested on 20.06.2023. 40. Raising objections on the issue of jurisdiction, learned counsel for the applicants submits that the informant is resident of Delhi and the alleged firms were registered in other States, therefore, no jurisdiction is vested in Police Station Sector-20 Noida, Gautam Buddh Nagar in Case Crime No. 255 of 2023. In support of his submissions, learned counsel has relied upon a judgement of the Supreme Court in the case of Dinesh Gupta v. State of U.P. [2024 SCC OnLine SC 34.] 41. He next submits that there is an inordinate delay in framing of charges despite submission of chargesheet and cognizance on 20.09.2023. In order to defeat the provisions of Section 167 Cr.P.C. chargesheet has been submitted in a hasty manner, hence, the charges are not being framed due to insufficiency of evidence. Thus, they are entitled for being released on bail under the provisions of Section ....
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....ements were reiterated. Deepak Murjhani has categorically stated that he has kept the alleged laptop and mobile hidden from his children, thus, Jatin Murjani and Dolsy Murjhani had no knowledge about the said laptop and mobile. 45. On 08.06.2023 statements of Deepak Murjhani and Yaseen Sheikh were recorded. They for the first time introduced the names of Jatin Murjani and Dolsy Murjhani. In their statements, no specific role has been assigned to the applicants. 46. In the investigation of Case Crime No. 255 of 2023, statements of Deepak Murjani were recorded and for the first time he disclosed the name of his son Jatin Murjani. Statements of co-accused Gaurav Singhal and Gurmeet were recorded by the Investigating Officer on 10.06.2023. They did not level any allegation against the applicants Jatin Murjani and Dolsy Murjhani. The applicants have been falsely implicated being the son and daughter of accused Deepak Murjhani. 47. On 18.07.2023 Jatin Murjani and Dolsy Murjhani were arrested showing recovery of one mobile phone, having IMEI No. 354016094312491/9. Learned counsel for the applicants submits that there is no material on record to connect the said mobile phone having IMEI....
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....ds and Aadhaar Cards, 60 SIM Cards of different companies and 3 Cars were recovered. 54. The Investigating Officer has recorded in Parcha No. 7, dated 01.06.2023, that upon enquiry it was found that the office belongs to Deepak Murjhani, and his wife Vineeta, Vishal Singh, Akash Saini, Atul Sengar and Rajeev were found working in the office of Deepak Murjhani and the aforesaid persons were arrested. Laptop of accused Yaseen is said to have contained excel sheets where details of approximately 2571 Firms, having different GST Numbers, had been mentioned, and it was informed by the co-accused Yaseen that the said Firms are fake Firms and had been created for claiming Input Tax Credit [ITC]. 55. Statements of accused persons were recorded and the name of applicant - Gaurav Singh alias Gaurav Singhal does not find any mention whatsoever. The Investigating Officer has recorded statements of co-accused Ashwani Pandey, Yaseen Sheikh, Deepak Murjhani, Vishal Singh, Akash Saini, Atul Sengar, Rajeev and Vineeta wife of Deepak Murjhani. Investigation has been carried out, the role of the accused persons in commission of offence has come up in the aforesaid statements. Names of accused perso....
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....y claimed by the accused persons, however, it has failed to connect the same to the applicant in any manner. The applicant - Gaurav Singh alias Gaurav Singhal has been granted bail in another offence of GST by a Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 29.05.2024 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 16786 of 2024 [Gaurav Singhal v. Union of India]. The applicant has been arrayed as accused in the case at hand because he is cousin of Arjit Goyal who is mastermind of the alleged offence and was solely involved in the illegal activities. The police has arrested the applicant from Dehradun on 05.06.2023, however, they have shown his arrest on 10.06.2023. 62. Learned counsel for the applicant next submits that compliance of Section 100 Cr.P.C. has not been done as there was no independent witness to the alleged recovery, as such a recovery shown to be made from the applicant's house is barred and inadmissible. The only evidence connecting the applicant to the offence in question is confessional statement of the applicant and co-accused which is totally inadmissible and cannot be read against the applicant in view of Sections 25 and 27 of the Indian Evidence Act. Placing....
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....i Pandey, Yaseen Sheikh, Deepak Murjhani, applicant-Vishal Singh, Akash Saini, Atul Sengar, Rajeev and Vineeta. In CD Parcha-7 dated 01.06.2023 the Investigating Officer added Section 120B IPC in Case Crime No. 203 of 2023. Learned counsel further submitted that only Yaseen Sheikh took name of the applicant in his statement and none other referred applicant's name or assigned any role to him. In the statement of Yaseen it is stated that the applicant was hired to bring material for preparing forged documents. 66. Pointing out the real story, learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant was lifted from his house and the same can be verified from CCTV footage. Thus, the arrest and the alleged recovery shown from the applicant on the said date, i.e., 01.06.2023 from the office at Madhu Vihar, Delhi are false and illegal. On 05.06.2023, statements of Deepak Murjhani, Yaseen Sheikh, Ashwani Pandey, applicant-Vishal Singh, Akash Saini, Atul Sengar and Rajeev Agrawal were recorded. None of them took name of applicant except Yaseen Sheikh. On 08.06.2023 statement of Yaseen Sheikh, Rajeev Jindal and Deepak Murjhani were recorded. None of the accused took name of the app....
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....h, Idrish, Akhil Kumar, Shilpa Chikara and Kavita. All the said witnesses are police personnel and there is no independent witness to support the arrest or recovery. 70. On 19.08.2023 statements of the victim/ witnesses, namely, Amit Kumar, Amit Agrawal, Vivek Garg, Sumit Anand, Anup Kumar Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Vivek Kumar, Sumit Gautam, Amit Kumar Chaturvedi, Amit Chauhan and Vivek Sharma were recorded. None of them named the applicant nor assigned any role to him. On 20.08.2023, 21.08.2023 and 22.08.2023 statements of victim/ witnesses were recorded. None of them named the applicant nor assigned any role to him. On 26.08.2023 the Investigating Officer has noted that by way of 22 mobile phones recovered from the applicant - Vishal Singh and Akash, on the basis of report obtained from GST Department, 53 GST Firms have been found to be registered. 71. From the aforesaid, it can be said that the Investigating Officer has not collected any credible evidence against the applicant connecting him in the alleged offence. Chargesheet has been submitted on 29.08.2023. 72. Learned counsel Sri Amit Kumar, Sri Jitendra Dwivedi and Sri Vinod Kumar Tripathi appearing on behalf of the applican....
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....he name of Rajneesh Jha, Jhameli Chaupal, Jiwalo Pvt. Ltd. and Vivek Kumar Jha. He also confessed that he had provided the documents of the said bank accounts to Yaseen Sheikh and had received Rs. 10,000/- for each forged bank account. He further disclosed that the said bank accounts were used by Yaseen to get GST registration numbers from GST Department. The police team further recovered 1 Aadhaar Card, Pan Card, Rs. 10,000/- which were handed over to Yaseen and by using the same he got OTP to open the bank accounts. No fard recovery has been made. 78. The investigation is silent as to which firms are connected with the Bank Accounts. Co-accused Yaseen has confessed that he worked in a group in the office of M/s JIWALO PVT LTD., from where coaccused persons have been arrested and alleged recovery has been made. 79. There is no evidence to connect the applicant in the commission of alleged offence, on the basis of statements of the applicant as well as other co-accused persons who were arrested from the office. 80. Sri Prashant Kumar Singh, learned counsel informs the Court that one co-accused Anshul Goyal was granted anticipatory bail by the Supreme Court by an order dated 29.0....
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.... are linked with a fake firm. 84. The informant has nowhere disclosed about any offence or any loss incurred by him during the alleged commission of offence. From a perusal of entire case diary, no offence can be made, which has been alleged by the informant in regard to commission of any offence whereby recovery of GST from the Government Portal is being made. The allegation about fake IDs and fake accounts being created by the alleged accused is totally on the basis of statements made by other accused persons. No linking material to connect the same has been collected by the Investigating Officer. The applicants have been entangled into this case without any material evidence. They have been falsely implicated in the present case. The applicant Rakesh Dialani was taken into custody on 06.12.2023 but actual date of arrest is 07.12.2023, whereas the applicant - Pritam Garg is in jail since 15.07.2023. 85. The GST Department has not got registered any FIR against the applicants while fake firms are alleged to have been registered. The primary allegation was with regard to Aadhaar and PAN linked with the Department, which raises fake invoices and by such fake invoices they have rec....
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....e offence. There are several SIM Cards that were being utilized and only one card recovered at the relevant point of time has not been matched. It is also contended that there are confessional statements of co-accused about involvement of Dolsy Murjhani and her brother Jatin Mujhani, on the basis of which recovery has been made which discourse the fact connecting them in the organized criminal offence. 92. Learned Additional Advocate General has further contended that from the material i.e. statements of Krishna Singh, Deepak Murjhani and from her (Dolsy Murjhani) own statement, it is evident that it is a case where a number of SIM Cards have been utilized, therefore, it is a case where the entire family is involved and if the bail is granted to one person, it will perpetuate illegality. He has drawn attention of the Court to Paragraph-12 of the Counter Affidavit, stating that as to how from IMEI number which has been recovered, Dolsy Murjhani has nexus with the fake firms, of which account has been ceased. 93. The FIR was lodged by one Saurabh Dwivedi, who is a journalist and Editor of The Lallantop Internet News Portal. About unknown GST registrations applied on his PAN showing....
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....of consideration of bail application, it is the duty of the Court to examine all the material on record. Once it is duty of the court to examine all material, it includes the statement of co-accused too. Thus, the parameter for grant of bail is entirely different to that of the parameter taken to be considered under trial. He has relied upon judgements of the Apex Court in the cases of Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v. Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and another [(2004) 7 SCC 528], Masroor v. State of Uttar Pradesh and another [(2009) 14 SCC 286], State of U.P. Through CBI v. Amarmani Tripathi [(2005) 8 SCC 21], Mehboob Ali and another v. State of Rajasthan [(2016) 14 SCC 640], P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement [(2019) 9 SCC 24], and Sunil Kumar v. Stte of Bihar and another [(2022) 3 SCC 245 : (2022) 1 SCC (Cri) 603 : 2022 SCC OnLine SC 88]. 98. Mr. Goel has drawn attention of the Court to Paragraph-8 of the judgement of the Supreme Court in the case of Union of India (NCB) etc. v. Khalil Uddin etc. [2022 SCC OnLine SC 2109]. Paragraph-8 of the said judgement reads thus: "8. The answer to said question could be the statement recorded of Md. Nizam Uddin. The statement of Md. Ja....
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....ate of U.P. [2020 SCC OnLine All 1901 : (2020) 35 GSTL 529], and Govind Agarwal v. State of U.P. [2020 SCC OnLine All 1902 : (2020) 35 GSTL 551] 103. Likewise with respect to economic offences, there are several decisions of the Supreme Court, wherein the Apex Court has held that the statement of co-accused as well as confessional statements are required to be considered while considering bail application of an accused. Learned counsel for the State Mr. Goel further emphasized that in view of the law laid down by the Apex Court, entire material as come in the case diary alongwith other material has to be looked into while considering bail application, thus, it is imperative to take into account all material whether it may or may not have evidential value and the Court should deal with it strictly while hearing economic offence. 104. With respect to consideration of bail in offences related to GST, learned AAG has placed reliance on various judgements of the Apex Court in the cases of Yogesh Jagish Kanodia v. State of Maharashtra and another, [(2021) 90 GSTR 402 : 2021 SCC OnLine Bom 154 : (2021) 2 Bom CR (Cri) 112] Ajay Khanna v. State Tax Anti Evasion Bureau, Jabalpur (M.P.) [(2....
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....isproved, or may call for proof of it. "Shall presume".--Whenever it is directed by this Act that the Court shall presume a fact, it shall regard such fact as proved, unless and until it is disproved. "Conclusive proof".--When one fact is declared by this Act to be conclusive proof of another, the Court shall, on proof of the one fact, regard the other as proved, and shall not allow evidence to be given for the purpose of disproving it." 108. From a reading of the aforesaid sections, it is clear that the material collected by the Investigating Officer at this stage is relevant for the purposes of considering that the applicants are involved in the commission of offence as the deposition made by co-accused persons leading to discovery of such information or fact is not required to be proved and is admissible piece of evidence as per Section 27 of the Act, 1872. 109. As argued by Mr. Amit Singh Chauhan, learned AGA-I and Sri Mayank Awasthi, learned Brief Holder, for the State, the following material has been collected to show the involvement of the applicants in the present case: (i) C.D. Parcha No. 2 bears details of Mobile No. 8800966916 which was used to register the GST f....
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....Yaseen Sheikh, arrested of Gaurav Singhal and Gurmeet Singh Batra was effected on 10.06.2023 from the residence of Gaurav, i.e., House No. 2/214, Sector-16, Rohini, Delhi, along with huge recovery of incriminating articles. Whereafter, the investigating team reached at Gautam Buddh Nagar along with accused taken in police custody remand alongwith arrested accused persons Gurmeet Singh Batra and Gaurav Singhal, from where accused Rahul Gupta and Rajiv Maheshwari were arrested with several SIMs and other incriminating material and the recovery memo was handed over with consent to Rajiv. (vii) C.D. Parcha No. 16 shows that the accused taken in police custody remain disclosed the names of Atul Gupta, Sumit Garg alias Sumit Chacha, Mannan Singhal, Baldev alias Balli, Ishwar, Praveen, Sanjay Garg, Banti, Archit Goyal. All of them confessed to prepare fake GST invoices against the names of fake firms at the office taken on rent by Deepak Murjhani and Archit Goyal. (viii) On being reached at the office of Jiwalo India Pvt. Ltd. (Shop No. 1-F/A-16, Gurudwara Road, Madhu Vihar, Delhi), statement of property owner, namely, Sahil Gupta S/o Sri Prakash Chandra Gupta was recorded, which reve....
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....ii) Parcha No. 29 shows (07.07.2023) the details of persons in whose names SIM Cards were procured, have been recovered from the accused Yaseen and Deepak Murjhani. (xiv) Arrest of accused Ajay alias Minti, Amit alias Montu and Mahesh was made, which is mentioned in C.D. Parcha No. 30 (09.07.2023). Recovery of 07 mobile phones, 06 tax invoices, one car and 3 aadhaar cards was made from said accused persons. (xv) In the C.D. Parcha No. 31 the Investigating Officer found that the registration of vehicle mentioned in the invoices were found to be fake and fabricated. (xvi) In the C.D. Parcha No. 37 arrest of Preetam Garg alias Chacha is mentioned along with recovery of fake tax invoices, mobile, aadhaar and voter ID. In his statement, the accused Preetam Garg confessed that he along with his elder brother Sanjay Garg went to Rohini, New Delhi, where he was introduced with Gaurav Singhal, Pradeep, Atul, Mannan, Sumit, Vikas Dabas, Goldi and Nand Lal, at the office of Arjit and Anchit. (xvii) In the C.D. Parcha No. 39 the Investigating Officer recorded arrest of Jatin Murjhani alias Rohit and Dolsy Murjhani. In their confessional statements, both have stated to have part of the ....
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....ngra, controller of M/s Good Health Industries. (xxvi) In C.D. Parcha No. 76, a report from DGGI, Meerut Unit was received along with charge sheet filed against Sanjay Dhingra, which reveals that Inspector, DGGI Office, Ghaziabad has informed that accused persons were arrested by the police of P.S. Sector-20 Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar and from their possession list of 2600 fake GST registration firms was recovered. On thorough inquiry it was found that the forged GST firms YOYO Traders has transferred ITC to fake GST firm AKS Traders, from which it was transferred to M/s Good Health Industries Pvt. Ltd., and both YOYO Traders and AKS Traders were found to be registered on fake documents. A complete report of DGGI office containing 28 pages is enclosed along with the parcha. In the said report it has been found that YOYO Traders and AKS Traders are non-existing firms and mobile numbers have been provided which are used in the registration of fake firms. (xxvii) C.D. Parcha No. 77 shows that on physical verification Investigating Officer found that both firms, namely, YOYO Traders and AKS Traders are non-existent at the principle place of business. (xxviii) In C.D. Parcha No. 78,....
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....(xxxiv) C.D. Parcha No. 98 refers about the report of one of the DGGI Zonal Units i.e. DGGI Gurugram Zonal Unit. It reveals that from the list of about 2600 fake GST firms which was recovered from the accused persons, out of these 20 companies were found to be common, by which fake ITC claims were received. Further, Annexue-1 of the said report reveals that from these 20 firms, by way of fake tax invoices about Rs. 16,91,74,236/- was misappropriated as a tax claim as such huge loss to the State Exchequer was caused. From Annexure No. 2 it is revealed that fake ITC claims of Rs. 8,57,60,146/- were fraudulently claimed from the fake GST firms. Further, Annexure-3 discloses that fake ITC of Rs. 226.45 crores were claimed in collusion with the accused Sanjay Jindal and Ajay Sharma. The report of DGGI is enclosed along with the said Parcha. (xxxv) C.D. Parcha No. 105 shows the arrest of accused Rahul Nigam, Piyush Kumar Gupta and Dilip Sharma. They confessed that they use to create fake GST firms and invoices for the accused persons Arjit Goyal alias Adarsh Goyal, Anchit, Pradeep, Vikas Dabas and told that they are somewhere outside but they create fake GST firms and fake invoices on ....
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.... Parcha No. 131 (21.03.2024) shows that during investigation it was found that accused Ajay Sharma and Sanjay Jindal, who were arrested by DGGI, Gurugram Unit amongst 8 other persons and also involved in the registration of 2600 fake GST firms, whose information was provided to the police by DGGI Ghaziabad Unit, are in jail, as such the statement of the accused persons were recorded wherein they have confessed their complicity in the present offence and requested the court below for allowing the remand of the accused in the present case crime under Section 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B IPC. (xlii) In C.D. Parcha No. 135, a letter from DGGI Delhi Unit is submitted by the IO which reveals that the accused Tushar Mehta who was arrested by DGGI Delhi Unit, was involved in recipient of fraudulent ITC to the tune of Rs. 24 crores on the strength of purported invoices issued by the fake GST firm M/s MKJ Enterprises which is a part of Noida fake invoice syndicate. (xliii) In C.D. Parcha No. 139 (10.04.2024) shows that during investigation it was found that accused Tushar Gupta, who was arrested by DGGI, Delhi Unit amongst 8 persons and also involved in the registration of 2600 fake GST firm....
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....ps and a list of fake GST firms were recovered. It is mentioned that copy of recovery memo was given to accused persons. (xlviii) C.D. Parcha No. 161 (25.05.2024) shows that confessional statements of accused Anshul Goyal were recorded, wherein he has stated the complicity of the accused persons naming them. (xlix) C.D. Parcha No. 162 (26.05.2024) reveals that a report from DGGI, Coimbatore which reveals that names of Smt. Suganya Prabhu and Sri Prabhuparam Shivam came to the light in the complicity of offence, showing huge amount was misappropriated through ITC. (l) C.D. Parcha No.167 (23.06.2024) details about the arrest of Smt. Suganya Prabhu, her confessional statement was recorded which discloses the complicity in the present case. (li) C.D. Parcha No.172 (27.06.2024) shows the arrest of accused Babar Khan and recovery of forged tax invoices and other incriminating material and thereafter confessional statement of the accused was recorded. 110. Learned counsel for the State has detailed about the submission of chargesheet against accused persons under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B IPC, in respective case crime numbers, which are being summarized in the following ....
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....03.2024 111. While assisting the Court, Mr. Rishi Kumar, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel submits that the present case begins with lodging of FIR by Saurabh Dwivedi, wherein allegations for fake GST registration applied in his name with PAN No. AUSPD7067N by anonymous person and got two GST firms registered, thus, the entire case begins with fake GST registration using PAN Card and Aadhaar Card of the informant. During the investigation it was found that larger nexus works for having benefit of input tax credit. The offence has been committed in an organized and synchronized manner, wherein fake and bogus invoices have been created to cover the money trail and goods supply as well as money transactions are there with forged firms. Establishing the entire chain, the accused persons have been found connected with each other and in one or the other way they have been benefited by fake GST registration shown by using Pan Card and Aadhaar Card of the informant. 112. The backbone of goods and services regime is input tax and credit. Under the GST regime, ITC follows supply chain not only intrastate but also interstate supply. 113. It has been established through investigatio....
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.... Suit (L) No. 537 of 2024], wherein the Court has observed thus: "It cannot be in dispute that the PAN system is of paramount importance on a national scale due to its multifaceted impact on governance, taxation, and financial integrity, and it can be said to be the cornerstone of a robust financial economic system. PAN related services are pivotal in fostering fiscal discipline and ensuring a transparent and accountable economic framework, as apart from being a unique identifier for individuals and entitles, it also aim at streamlining the tax recovery and payment process. Government of India has made it mandatory for PAN card holders to link the same to Aadhar Card, which is an acceptable proof of identification in India, and therefore, any potential misuse of the licence/ authorisation to issue PAN cards, would be highly detrimental not only to the interest." 116. Thus, the offence in the present case is affecting the interest of public at large. 117. I have considered the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 118. Learned counsel for the applicant-Gaurav Singhal has stated that in Case No. 22362 of 2023 lodged under the GST Act wit....
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....e accused leads to discovery of a fact. The Section makes only that part of the statement relevant, which directly leads to the discovery of facts. It does not make the entire statement of the accused inadmissible. 123. The condition for applicability of the aforesaid Section is that the person giving the information must be an accused in police custody. The information provided must lead directly to the discovery of the material fact and only that portion of information which directly leads to the discovery is admissible. For example, if an accused, while in custody, reveals the location of a weapon used in the crime and upon searching that location, the weapon is indeed found, the part of statement where accused described the location of weapon is admissible in courts as evidence. 124. The rationale behind Section 27 of the Act, 1872 is to strike a balance between protection of the accused from coercive confession and the necessity of law enforcement to discover fact related to a crime. The courts have interpreted Section 27 in various judgements, often emphasizing that it should be applied only to the extent necessity to prove discovery of a fact. The Hon'ble Apex Court ha....
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....granted bail unless there are compelling reasons to detain him in custody. But there are exceptions to the aforesaid principal. While, the general rule favours granting bail, there are several exceptions where courts may deny bail due to specific circumstances. These exceptions are based on factors that indicate a potential risk to society, the judicial process, or the investigation. Some points that should be kept in mind while granting bail are; the nature and gravity of the offence, likelihood of flight risk, risk of tampering with the evidence of witnesses, repeated offenders or habitual criminals, danger to society or the victim, possibility of committing another offence while on bail, interference with justice, specific statutory provisions like the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), lastly economic offence and white collar crimes. 128. The present case relates to economic offences, such as large scale fraud, money laundering and corruption, are often viewed seriously because they affect the economic fabric of the society. The Courts may deny bail in such c....
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.... 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." 132. The Apex Court in the case of Nimmagadda Prasad v. Central Bureau of Investigation, (2013) 7 SCC 466 has formulated some important factors to be taken into consideration while considering bail applications. Relevant paragraph of the said judgement are quoted herein below: "24. 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 an....
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....Rs. The evidences have been collected from the GST Department also. 137. In the case of Perumal Raja @ Perumal v. State, Rep. By Inspector of Police [2024 LiveLaw (SC) 8], the Court has gone to the extent of clarifying phrase "discovery of a fact" by saying that the same includes the object found, the place from which it was produced and the knowledge of the accused as to its existence, therefore, factum of discovery combines both the physical object as well as mental consciousness of the informant accused in relation thereto. The same has been stated in Paragraph Nos. 22 & 23 of the said judgement, which are thus: "22. However, we must clarify that Section 27 of the Evidence Act, as held in these judgments, does not lay down the principle that discovery of a fact is to be equated to the object produced or found. The discovery of the fact resulting in recovery of a physical object exhibits knowledge or mental awareness of the person accused of the offence as to the existence of the physical object at the particular place. Accordingly, discovery of a fact includes the object found, the place from which it was produced and the knowledge of the accused as to its existence. To this ....
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....apart from others. There cannot 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 cancelling bail." 139. The Apex Court in the case of Prahlad Singh Bhati v. NCT, Delhi and another [(2001) 4 SCC 280], has held that while granting bail, the court has to keep in mind nature of accusations, nature of evidence in support thereof, severity of punishment which conviction will entail, the character, behaviour, means and standing 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, larger interest of the public or State and similar other considerations. Relevant paragraph no. 8 of the said judgement is reproduced hereunder: "8. The jurisdiction to grant bail has to be exercised on the basis of well-settled principles having regard to the circumstances of each case and not in an arbitrary manner. While granting the bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severit....
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....darshan Singh [(2002) 3 SCC 598 : 2002 SCC (Cri) 688] and Puran v. Rambilas [(2001) 6 SCC 338 : 2001 SCC (Cri) 1124].)". 141. In the case of State of U.P. Through CBI v. Amarmani Tripathi [(2005) 8 SCC 21], the Supreme Court has formulated eight points for consideration of bail application. It would be apposite to quote the relevant paragraph no. 18 of the said judgement: "18. It is well settled that the matters to be considered in an application for bail are (i) whether there is any prima facie or reasonable ground to believe that the accused had committed the offence; (ii) nature and gravity of the charge; (iii) severity of the punishment in the event of conviction; (iv) danger of the accused absconding or fleeing, if released on bail; (v) character, behaviour, means, position and standing of the accused; (vi) likelihood of the offence being repeated; (vii) reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with; and (viii) danger, of course, of justice being thwarted by grant of bail. ..." 142. The Apex Court has, in the case of P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement [(2020) 13 SCC 791 : (2020) 4 SCC (Cri) 646], held that precedent of another case alone will not b....