Court Refuses Bail in Rs 5.90 Crore GST Credit Fraud Case

The Bail application of accused Tushar Raheja (who was arrested by the police) under section 132 (1) (b) & (1) (i) of the GST Act was dismissed on Friday by special chief judicial magistrate Kanpur Nagar Kumudlata Tripathi.

Section 132(1) of the GST Act specifies various offences that are punishable under the law. Specifically, section 132(1)(b) deals with issuing fake invoices, while section 132(1)(i) addresses dealing with the supply of illegal services.

The bail application stated that the accused was innocent and had been framed in a payment rivalry, said the defence counsel. He was neither a seller nor a purchaser and was not even the owner of any firm, employee or CA. In this case, the main beneficiary was Anil Kumar Jaiswal (Owner of three industries) and the important person in all payments.

He faced charges of receiving forged income tax credits amounting to approximately Rs 5.90 crore, yet no arrest was made.

The defence argued for bail, stating the accused had neither issued bills nor received payment for any supply of goods. Special Prosecutor Ambarish Tandon opposed the bail, claiming that the offence was non-bailable.

The court observed that the accused was charged with evading taxes amounting Rs 5.90 crore, which is a serious economic offence. The judge dismissed the bail petition, refraining from commenting on its merits, considering the ongoing investigation of the case.

The judge extended judicial custody for 14 days, with the next hearing scheduled for October 9 based on the submission of Investigation Officer Rakesh Chandra Katiyar.