Facts of the Case

Praveen Kumar sought regular bail under Section 439 CrPC in FIR No. 4 dated 06.01.2019, registered at Police Station Arya Nagar, Rohtak, under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468 and 471 IPC read with Section 132(1)(B)(C) of the Haryana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. As per the prosecution's case, the FIR was registered by the Excise and Taxation Officer alleging that the petitioner was creating false and bogus companies to extract GST amounts from the public, issuing fake bills and not depositing collected GST amounts with the department, causing an alleged loss of Rs. 1,02,33,769.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner was entitled to regular bail pending trial, given the allegations of creating bogus companies and issuing fake GST bills.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • Filed an affidavit reply through the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rohtak; the specific defence arguments of the petitioner beyond seeking bail are not detailed at length in the available portion of the order.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The State, represented by the DAG, Haryana, relied on the FIR allegations of fake company creation and bogus GST billing causing loss to the department.

Court Order / Findings

  • The order records various standard bail conditions, including a bar on tampering with prosecution evidence, mandatory reporting on the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month before the concerned SHO, and provision for heavy local sureties.
  • The Court granted regular bail, subject to these stringent conditions, applying conventional bail-jurisprudence factors rather than examining the truth of the underlying GST fraud allegations.

Important Clarification

This bail order does not adjudicate whether the petitioner actually created bogus companies or issued fake GST bills as alleged — it grants bail based on standard criteria (custody period, need for further investigation, flight risk, tampering risk) without expressing any opinion on the merits of the GST fraud case, which remains to be tried. Readers should not treat the grant of bail as any finding that the GST fraud allegations lack substance.

Sections Involved

  • Section 132(1)(B)(C), Haryana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — offences relating to issuing invoices without supply of goods/services and non-payment of collected tax
  • Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471, Indian Penal Code, 1860 — criminal breach of trust, cheating, and forgery
  • Section 439, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — power to grant bail

Decision – In Favour of

The petitioner (Praveen Kumar) — regular bail granted subject to stringent conditions; the order is silent on, and does not decide, the merits of the underlying GST bogus-billing allegations.

Case Details

Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh; CRM-M-37122-2023; Neutral Citation: 2023:PHHC:104087; Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice N.S. Shekhawat; Date of Decision: 10.08.2023.

Link to Download the Order

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