Telangana HC grants anticipatory bail to a company director in a Rs 98 crore GST input-credit case, stressing that the need for arrest must

Summary

A director of a Hyderabad company, accused of wrongly claiming about Rs 98.47 crore of input tax credit on invoices from non-genuine suppliers, sought protection from arrest under the Central and Telangana GST Acts. The High Court held that the seriousness of an economic offence is not enough on its own: what matters is whether custodial interrogation is actually necessary, and here the evidence was largely documents already seized.

The court's decision

The Court allowed the criminal petition and granted anticipatory bail on conditions: surrender before the authorised officer and release on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties; appearance before the investigating officer every Tuesday and Saturday for 12 weeks; cooperation with the investigation; no leaving India without permission; and no tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses. It noted that the key material was already seized, the petitioner had cooperated, the co-accused managing director was already on bail, and a Rs 1.5 crore deposit under protest is neither an admission nor a defence. The department may still act under Sections 69 and 132 of the GST Act if new material shows arrest is genuinely necessary, and the order expresses no view on the merits.

Provisions referred to

Section 482, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 132(1)(c), CGST Act, 2017

Section 132(1)(i), TGST Act, 2017

Section 69, CGST Act, 2017

Official source: High Court for the State of Telangana. The PDF above is a copy from an open dataset of the court's public records.

This summary is prepared for general assistance only. It may contain errors and is not legal advice — rely on the full judgment.

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