TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (10) TMI 375
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.... Ms. Navreet Kaur, AAG, Punjab ORDER VIRINDER AGGARWAL, J. (Oral) 1. This order shall dispose of the above-captioned two petitions as the same arise out of the same investigation and involve identical questions of law and substantially similar facts. For the sake of convenience, the facts are being taken from CRM-M-15056-2026. 2. The present petitions have been preferred under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (corresponding to Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973), seeking grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioners in connection with the proceedings initiated by the respondent-Department under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. 3. The petitions arise in the context of su....
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....movement of goods. 6. Having considered the rival submissions and the material placed on record, this Court finds that the prayer for anticipatory bail is premature. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Union of India Vs. Sunil Biyani, 2026 INSC 849, has now authoritatively settled the legal position with regard to an application for anticipatory bail founded upon summons issued under Section 70 of the CGST Act. In Sunil Biyani (supra), the Hon'ble Supreme Court, after considering its earlier judgment in Radhika Agarwal Vs. Union of India, 2025(6) SCC 545, has held that mere issuance of summons under Section 70 of the CGST Act does not make the person summoned an accused. 7. More importantly, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held tha....
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....e protection granted to the respondent vide paragraph 6 of the impugned order. 13.*** 14.*** 15. Sub-section (1) of Section 69 grants the Commissioner the power to authorise any officer to arrest a person. Such order must, as prescribed, be preceded by "reasons to believe". Such reasons in turn, must refer to the material and evidence underlying such opinion and evince application of mind. These are, among others, the stipulations laid down in Radhika Aggarwal (supra). 16. According to Mr. Agarwal, learned senior counsel for the respondent, what necessarily follows is that until and unless an order under Section 69 of the CGST Act is passed by the Commissioner recording the "reasons to believe" that an of....
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....re of the order to subject the same to a challenge on available grounds before an appropriate forum. 18. We are inclined to accept the contention of Mr. Agarwal. The order under Section 69 of the CGST Act, as held, being a sine qua non to seek anticipatory bail, it would be an anomaly to hold that the order need not be communicated at all, much less, be communicated after the arrest of such person. In any case, communication of the order would not, in any manner, obstruct the investigation ensued by the department. On the contrary, it reinforces the right of the accused to seek anticipatory bail as stipulated in Shushila Aggarwal v, State(NCT of Delhi) (2020) 5 SCC 1. 19.*** 20.*** 21.*** 22. In ....