LAWS(DLH)-2022-2-106

SAURABH MITTAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

Decided On February 11, 2022
Saurabh Mittal Appellant
V/S
UNION OF INDIA Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition under Sec. 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed by the petitioner with the following prayers:

(2.) Issue notice. Learned counsel for respondent no.1, learned senior standing counsel for respondents no. 2 and 3 and learned senior SPP appears on advance notice and accepts notice

(3.) The brief facts of the case are that pursuant to some intelligence received that a group of unscrupulous persons in collusion with some custom house agents (CHAs) are actively involved in evasion of GST by making exports from some non-existent firms, Senior Intelligence Officer, Director General of GST, Ghaziabad Regional Unit (Respondent No. 3) commenced inquiry and carried out certain searches at the purported premises of one M/s Heritage International at Delhi. On 27/11/2021, search was carried out at the office premises of Saurabh Mittal (Petitioner herein), wherein documents related to the firms of petitioner being M/s Akula Exports and M/s Vistar Exports were seized. It was alleged that one Tinku Yadav is the mastermind involved in the creation of numerous fake firms and a huge amount of fraudulent Input Tax Credit has been availed and the said Tinku Yadav was arrested on 29/11/2021. In his statement before the authorities, Tinku Yadav claimed that he worked under the directions of Satish Jain and Govind Sharma. In January 2022, statements of Satish Jain and Govind Sharma were recorded wherein they further claimed that the petitioner along with certain other persons was involved in the creation of bogus firms. On 25/1/2022, based on the statement of Satish Jain and Govind Sharma, searches were conducted again at the premises of the petitioner and subsequently summons were issued to both, the petitioner as well as his father under Sec. 70 CGST Act, 2017, pursuant to which the Petitioner and his father duly appeared and though the petitioner was allowed to go back, the father of the petitioner Yogesh Mittal was arrested under Sec. 69 of CGST Act, 2017. On 26/1/2022, father of the petitioner was produced before the Learned Special Duty Magistrate, Meerut when the respondent filed its remand application seeking judicial custody. It is alleged that from a perusal of the remand application, the Petitioner became aware of the nature of accusations levelled against him and his father. Petitioner's father Yogesh Mittal was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days and on 31/1/2022, the co-accused and alleged mastermind in the instant matter, Tinku Yadav was granted default bail by the learned Special Chief Magistrate, Meerut in the light of no prosecution being launched by the respondents even after 60 days from his arrest. Pursuant to the arrest of petitioner's father, the petitioner received summons dtd. 2/2/2022 for appearance on 4/2/2022 and another summon dtd. 7/2/2022 for appearance on 11/2/2022, before Respondent No. 3, DGGI, Ghaziabad Regional Unit.