GST fraud: Punjab scrap dealer denied pre-arrest bail

Chandigarh, April 13

Additional Sessions Judge Jaibir Singh has dismissed the anticipatory bail application of a scrap dealer of Amloh, District Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, in an alleged multi-crore GST scam unearthed by the UT Excise and Taxation Department in 2019.

Ganga Ram, the suspect, had moved an application after the police issued summons to join an investigation in the alleged scam.

As per the prosecution, on a complaint of Deepa Chaudhary, Excise and Taxation Officer, Chandigarh, a case in the alleged scam was registered under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC at the Sector 17 police station.

The complainant had alleged that one Abhishek Modgil obtained GST registration under the UTGST Act, 2017, and the firm was not working at the declared place of business. Thereafter, he made transactions of taxable supplies of goods to the tune of over Rs. 20 crore and was liable to deposit the due tax in the government treasury. The accused committed fraud with the government department to the tune of over Rs. 4 crore by intentionally generating bogus invoices of sales and receiving bogus invoices of purchases.

The counsel for the applicant said there was nothing on record to prove the involvement of the accused in any manner. The entire case of prosecution was based on documentary evidence and hence, custodial interrogation of the applicant was not necessary.

Opposing the bail plea, Hukum Singh, Public Prosecutor, stated that the custodial interrogation of the accused was required to ascertain the facts.

After hearing of the arguments the court dismissed his bail application.