2025 (10) TMI 378

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....s of Sections 69 and 132 of Haryana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (for short, 'HGST Act') on the ground of lack of legislative competence and being violative of Article 13 of Constitution of India. 2. Learned counsel for respondents submit that controversy as involved in this petition is now squarely covered in favour of revenue in terms of judgment of Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Radhika Agarwal vs. Union of India and others, 2025 (2) TMI 1162-Supreme Court (LB). Hon'ble the Supreme Court in the said case has upheld constitutional validity of Sections 69 and 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (for short, 'CGST Act') which is analogous to HGST Act. It has been held by Hon'ble the Supreme Court as under:- "75.....

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....SC 147. This settled dictum regarding the interpretation of legislative entries equally applies to the special provision of Article 246-A of the Constitution. In the context of the legislative power to levy and collect tax, a Constitution Bench of Seven Judges in R.S. Joshi, Sales Tax Officer, Gujarat and Others v. Ajit Mills Limited and Another, (1977) 4 SCC 98 held: "47. The principle in construing words conferring legislative power is that the most liberal construction should be put on the words so that they may have effect in their widest amplitude. None of the items in the List is to be read in a narrow restricted sense. Each general word should be held to extend to all ancillary or subsidiary matters which can fairly and reas....

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....ission made on behalf of the Revenue that arrests are not made in case of bailable offences, in our considered view, the Commissioner, while recording the reasons to believe should state his satisfaction and refer to the 'material' forming the basis of his finding regarding the commission of a non-bailable offence specified in clauses (a) to (d) of sub-section (1) to Section 132. The computation of the tax involved in terms of the monetary limits under clause (i) of subsection (1), which make the offence cognizable and non-bailable, should be supported by referring to relevant and sufficient material. 57. The aforesaid exercise should be undertaken in right earnest and objectively, and not on mere ipse dixit without foundational re....

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..../Revenue is certain that it is a case of offence under clauses (a) to (d) to sub-section (1) of Section 132 and the amount of tax evaded, etc. falls within clause (i) of sub section (1) to Section 132 of the GST Acts with sufficient degree of certainty. In such cases, the Commissioner may authorise arrest when he is able to ascertain and record reasons to believe. As indicated above, the reasons to believe must be explicit and refer to the material and evidence underlying such opinion. There has to be a degree of certainty to establish that the offence is committed and that such offence is non-bailable. The principle of benefit of doubt would equally be applicable and should not be ignored either by the Commissioner or by the Magistrate whe....