Khushi Doshi
Published on: March 9, 2022 at 12:18 IST
The Allahabad High Court ruled on Tuesday that Anticipatory Bail cannot be granted for Bailable offences. The Anticipatory Bail Application was denied by a Single Judge Bench led by Justice Samit Gopal, who ruled that because the Offences are Bailable, no Anticipatory Bail can be granted.
The Applicants stated in the Case that the dispute in the present matter relates to an amount of Rs.1,80,86,343/- which is stated to have been Prima Facie availed by M/s V.K. Traders, applicant no. 1, as an inadmissible Input Tax Credit.
It was claimed that Applicant no. 1 is a sole proprietorship firm of which applicant no. 2 is the sole proprietor. It is argued that because it is specifically stated in para- 28 of the Counter-Affidavit that all Offences involving tax evasion less than Rs. 5 crore remain Bailable and only the most serious offences involving tax evasion above Rs. 5 crore have been made Non-Bailable and Cognizable offences, the amount in the current dispute is much less than Rs. 5 crores, and thus the Offences are Bailable. As a result, it is argued, the applicant is entitled to Anticipatory Bail.
The Court also relied on the decisions of the Supreme Court in the Cases of Joginder @ Jindi vs. State of Haryana: (2008) 10 SCC 138 and R. K. Krishna Kumar Vs. State of Assam: (1998) 1 SCC 474, in which the Apex Court held that Section 438 Code of Criminal Procedure relates to Non-Bailable Offences and that a Petition under Section 438 Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Court thus concluded that the person seeking such relief must have a reasonable fear of being arrested on an accusation of committing a non-Bailable offence in order for the Court to exercise its discretion under Section 438 Code of Criminal Procedure
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