Superintendent Of Central Tax vs. Vivek Singvi

Facts

The petitioner, the Superintendent of Central Tax, Anti-Evasion, GST Commissionerate, Bengaluru East, filed a criminal petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The petition sought to set aside an order dated July 20, 2019, passed by the LIX Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bengaluru, in CRL.MISC.NO.5391/2019. This order had granted bail to the respondent, Vivek Singvi. The criminal petition was filed in the year 2020. The present judgment is dated May 25, 2023.

Held

The Court held that the criminal petition, filed in 2020, had become infructuous due to the efflux of time. The order granting bail to the respondent was passed in 2019, and four years had elapsed since then. Consequently, the Court found no necessity to delve into the merits of the challenge to the bail order. The petition was disposed of as having become infructuous. The Court also noted that an interlocutory application, I.A.No.1/2021, stood disposed of in view of the disposal of the writ petition.

Key Issues

The primary issue before the High Court was whether the order granting bail to the respondent should be set aside. The petitioner, the Superintendent of Central Tax, sought to challenge the bail order. The respondent, Vivek Singvi, was granted bail by the Sessions Court. The Court had to consider the validity and appropriateness of the bail order in light of the petitioner's challenge. The judgment does not explicitly record arguments from either side regarding the merits of the bail order itself, but rather addresses the procedural status of the petition.