Ritesh Surendrakumar Shah vs. State Of Gujarat

Held

The Court disposed of the application for anticipatory bail with an observation. It directed that the concerned authority shall comply with the principle laid down by this Court in the decision rendered in Special Civil Application No.13679 of 2019 and allied matters dated 20.10.2020 in its true spirit. The Court did not explicitly decide on the maintainability of the anticipatory bail application itself but rather guided the authority on how to proceed. The reasoning appears to be that the authority should adhere to established judicial principles when dealing with such matters, particularly concerning summons and potential coercive action. The operative direction was to dispose of the application with the aforementioned observation, implying that the petitioner's concerns would be addressed by the authority's compliance with the cited precedent.

Facts

The petitioner, Ritesh Surendrakumar Shah, filed an application under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking anticipatory bail. This application was in connection with a summons issued under Section 70 of the CGST Act, 2017, and GGST Act, 2017. The summons was dated August 24, 2020, and related to an alleged offense under Section 67(2) of the CGST Act, 2017, and GGST Act, 2017. The summons was preceded by a CBIC-DIN communication dated August 6, 2020. The State of Gujarat was the respondent.

Key Issues

1. Whether the application for anticipatory bail is maintainable in connection with a summons issued under Section 70 of the CGST Act, 2017, for an alleged offense under Section 67(2) of the CGST Act, 2017 and GGST Act, 2017. Petitioner's contention: The petitioner sought anticipatory bail, implying a concern about potential arrest or detention arising from the summons. Revenue/State's contention: The judgment does not record any specific arguments from the respondent State. However, the court's order implies that the issuance of a summons under Section 70, rather than a formal arrest, was the immediate trigger for the application.