Vinita vs. Union Of INDIA

Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:133576 Court No. - 81 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 14120 of 2025 Applicant :- Vinita Opposite Party :- Union of India Counsel for Applicant :- Navnath Pandey Counsel for Opposite Party :- Parv Agarwal Hon'ble Manoj Bajaj,J. Applicant- Vinita has filed this application under Section 483 of B.N.S.S., 2023 for grant of regular bail, during the pendency of trial in Case No. 22362 of 2023, under Sections 132(1)(b), 132(1) (c), 132(1)(f), 132(1)(I) and 132(1)(i) of C.G.S.T. Act, 2017, Police Station Department DGGI, Ghaziabad Unit, District Meerut. The applicant is in custody since her arrest on 28.07.2023. Learned counsel for the applicant has argued that as per the complaint, the accused persons were involved in creations of fake firms to claim benefit of Input Tax Credit (ITC) and further passed it on the other fake firms and in this commission of crime, co- accused- Gaurav Singhal is stated to be the mastermind. He submits that the complaint is directed against eight accused persons and the concession of regular bail has been extended to Gaurav Singhal and Gurmeet Singh Batra @ Sahil vide orders dated 29.5.2024 and 7.8.2024, respectively. According to the learned counsel, the applicant being lady has been falsely implicated in the case on the ground that she facilitated the commission of crime, and role attributed to her is similar to the role of co- accused Gurmeet Singh Batra @ Sahil, who is on bail. It is further submitted that as per complaint, sixty one prosecution witnesses are to be examined before the trial court, however, till

date, even charge has not been framed against the accused persons. He prays for grant of regular bail to the applicant during the pendency of the trial. Mr. Parv Agarwal, learned counsel for the complainant/Union of India, while opposing the prayer does not dispute this fact that the co- accused of the applicant, namely, Gaurav Singhal and Gurmeet Singh Batra @ Sahil have been extended the concession of regular bail. However, according to him, two co- accused persons, namely Deepak Murjani and Yasin Sheikh are in custody, whereas three other accused persons, namely, Arjit Goyal, Anchit Goyal and Pradeep Goyal are absconding. After hearing the learned counsel and considering their submissions, this Court finds that the alleged offences carry a maximum punishment of five years and the applicant has already been in custody for the last two years since her arrest on 19th July, 2023. The offences are triable by Magistrate and the conclusion of trial is likely to consume considerable time, therefore, further detention of the applicant behind the bars would not be justified for any useful purpose. Concededly, the similarly situated co- accused, namely, Gurmeet Singh Batra @ Sahil has been released on regular bail vide order dated 7.8.2024, and further, the material witnesses are either the official witnesses or officials of the Bank, and at present there does not seem to be any possibility of their being won over. Thus, considering the above background of the case, the custodial period undergone by the applicant, this Court deems it appropriate to extend the concession of regular bail to the applicant. Resultantly, without meaning any expression of opinion on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed and it is ordered that the applicant- Vinita be released on regular bail in the above case crime subject to her furnishing the requisite bail bonds and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court. Order Date :- 7.8.2025/Raj RAJ KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad