Sri Baneesh vs. Superintendent Of Central Excise And GST

Facts

The petitioner, Sri Banesh, proprietor of M/s J K Enterprises, filed a criminal petition under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. seeking anticipatory bail. The bail was sought in the event of his arrest by the Superintendent of Central Excise and GST, Mangalore, or their subordinate officers. The proceedings in question were identified as CBIC-DIN-20210157YZ000000AF10 and O.C.NO.06/2021. The petitioner sought to be enlarged on bail after furnishing sufficient surety. The petition was filed before the High Court of Karnataka.

Held

The Court noted the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner who filed a memo for withdrawal of the petition. The petitioner sought liberty to file a fresh petition before the District & Sessions Court, Mangaluru. In view of this submission, the memo was placed on record. Consequently, the Criminal Petition was dismissed as withdrawn. The Court did not delve into the merits of the anticipatory bail application or the underlying GST proceedings. The operative direction was the dismissal of the petition as withdrawn, with the petitioner free to approach the District & Sessions Court.

Key Issues

The primary issue before the Court was whether to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner. The petitioner, through his counsel, sought to withdraw the petition with liberty to file a fresh petition before the District & Sessions Court, Mangaluru. The respondent, the Superintendent of Central Excise and GST, was represented by the learned Government Advocate. The Court had to decide whether to permit the withdrawal of the petition and grant the requested liberty. The petitioner argued for withdrawal to pursue the matter in the appropriate forum, while the respondent's stance on the withdrawal was not explicitly recorded.