2026 (1) TMI 203

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....at Police Station - Deputy Commissioner, State Tax, BIU, Head Office Naya Raipur, GST Department, Sector-19 Atal Nagar, Naya Raipur, C.G for the offences punishable under Sections 67 & 132 of CGST/CGGST Act 2017 (for short, the Act of 2017). 2. Brief facts of the case are that on 12.09.2025, officers of the CGST Department conducted a search under Section 67 of the CGST Act at the Applicant's office in Raipur on the unsubstantiated allegation that he was involved in creating bogus firms and facilitating fake e-way bills. During the search, the Applicant and his staff were allegedly subjected to coercive questioning despite full cooperation. Certain documents and digital records relating to GST registrations were seized, and allegations o....

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....sis of forged documents is completely misconceived, GST registration is an entirely system-driven process involving Aadhaar OTP authentication, physical verification by an Inspector, and approval by the Assistant Commissioner after detailed scrutiny, in such a multi-layered statutory mechanism, forgery at the Applicant's end is impossible, and the allegation stands inherently falsified. He would submit that the entire case of the Department rests on documents and digital records already seized or available on official GST portals. He would submit that no recovery is pending from the Applicant and in light of settled law that custody is unwarranted in documentary investigations, custodial interrogation serves no purpose and would amount to p....

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.... firms were found; 21 firms were non-existent and used solely for issuing e-way bills worth Rs. 821 crore and identity theft and fraudulent registrations across multiple states stand prima facie established. He would submit that considering the organized nature of the economic offence, destruction of evidence, and involvement of multiple entities, custodial interrogation is essential to trace the full chain and recover data. He would submit that the Applicant has failed to show any exceptional circumstances justifying the grant of anticipatory bail and mere apprehension of arrest, when founded on legitimate investigation, is not sufficient ground for grant of anticipatory bail and the same is liable to be dismissed. 5. I have heard learn....