Gurmeet Singh Batra @ Sahil vs State Of U.P.

Headnote AI-drafted · Reviewed and approved

The applicant sought bail in connection with FIR No. 255 of 2023 registered under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B IPC at Police Station Noida Sector-20, Gautam Buddh Nagar, arising out of allegations of fraudulent GST registration using the PAN Card of the informant without his knowledge or consent. The applicant contended that he was not named in the FIR, that his name surfaced only in the confessional statement of a co-accused which cannot be treated as evidence, and that there was no direct documentary or ocular evidence linking him to the creation of fake firms or forgery of documents. He also claimed parity with co-accused Rajiv Jindal who had been granted bail by the Supreme Court.

The State opposed bail, contending that the applicant was part of a syndicate involved in a large-scale fraud whereby approximately 2,600 fake firms were registered and input tax credit of more than Rs. 4,000 crore was fraudulently availed. The State argued that the syndicate operated in four segments: collection of SIM cards and personal data, creation of fake firms on the GST portal, routing money transactions through an actual firm to avail input tax credit, and distribution of monetary benefits. The State submitted that the offences under the IPC stood independently of any GST proceedings.

The judgment text as available records the competing arguments on the bail application arising out of a serious GST fraud matter involving misuse of personal credentials for fraudulent registration of firms and large-scale tax credit fraud.

Catchwords: bail · GST fraud · fake firms · input tax credit · PAN card misuse · cheating · forgery · criminal conspiracy · syndicate · parity

Forged documents