Badha Ram vs. Intelligence Officer
Held
The Court dismissed the bail application, rejecting the argument that arrest under the GST Act can only occur after assessment proceedings are completed. It held that offences under Section 132 are independent of assessment and that continued custody was warranted due to the serious nature of the alleged evasion, ongoing investigation, and suspicion of evidence tampering.
Facts
The petitioner, a wholesale distributor of mobile accessories, was accused of evading GST amounting to over Rs. 6.14 crores by supplying goods without invoices since 2018. Following a search, he was arrested for offences under Section 132(1) of the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and sought regular bail under Section 439 CrPC.
Key Issues
The key legal issues were whether an arrest under the GST Act can be made before the completion of assessment proceedings, and if the petitioner was entitled to regular bail given the allegations of large-scale tax evasion and potential evidence tampering.
Sections Cited
Section 132(1), Section 132, Section 132(5), Section 67(2), Section 69, Section 439, Section 41
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