Supreme Court Grants Bail To Accused In 1032 Crores GST Input Fraud Case

The Supreme Court on Friday (July 26) granted bail to Ashutosh Garg, accused in 1000 crores GST Input Fraud.

Garg was allegedly operating nearly 294 fake firms for the purpose of passing inadmissible input tax credit worth Rs. 1,032 crores fraudulently. The charges against Garg were under various sections of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017, including 132(1)(b), (c), (f), (j), and (l). 

The bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that Garg had been in custody for nearly nine months following his arrest on November 2, 2023.

Considering the fact that the maximum punishment for the offences charged is 5 years, the Court deemed it fit to grant bail as the accused had undergone a substantial period of custody. 

"Bearing in mind that the offence carries a maximum punishment of five years of imprisonment and the period of custody already undergone, we do not consider it appropriate to keep the petitioner languishing in jail any further. The petitioner shall accordingly be released on bail, subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the Trial Court" 

Senior Advocate Talwant Singh, represented the petitioner, while Additional Solicitor General, Vikramjit Banerjee, appeared on behalf of the Union. 

It may be noted on March 8 the bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand of Rajasthan High Court refused to grant bail to Garg. The court reasoned that economic offences create a huge loss to the public exchequer, which demands that such 'white collar crimes' be considered as grave offences affecting the 'economy of the nation as a whole'. 

Case Details : ASHUTOSH GARG VS. UNION OF INDIA SLP(Crl) No. 008740 - / 2024

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