The order had come in a writ petition filed by Arun Gupta. The present petition challenged the vires of various provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST). And sought a direction to GST officers to comply with the mandatory procedure under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 for valid commencement of the investigation.
Facts of the Case
The Petitioner, Arun Gupta is the director of Transline Technologies Pvt Ltd. Arun Gupta had been alleged by the Director-General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) for issuing fake invoices without supplying goods. It is also alleged that he had committed offenses under the CGST Act to the tune of approximately Rs 13 crores. Due to which the Petitioner sought a direction to the authorities that no coercive action or arrest shall be made against him based on section 69 (Power to arrest) and section 132(Punishment of certain offenses) of the CGST Act, 2017. As there was no constitutional backing to the same under Article 246A of the Constitution. The Petitioner had also alleged that the CGST officials conducted a search at the company and “brutally slapped and manhandled” one of the employees.
Submissions before Court
Ld. Counsel Mr.Vijay Aggarwal appeared for the Petitioner. He showed a video clip of employees of the Petitioner who were allegedly slapped and manhandled by DGGI. The counsel also played an audio clip of the call recording.
Mr.Aggarwal further submitted that the house and godown of the Petitioner were sealed by the GST officials. Even though there is no search and seizure provision under the GST.
Court’s Order
The Division Bench of Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula directed the authorities not to arrest the Petitioner and to de-seal his house and godown. The Court further directed the Petitioner to cooperate with the investigation.
The matter would be next heard on December 22.
For the original order of the case, Click here: Arun Gupta v. UOI
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