Bombay High Court Denies Anticipatory Bail To Tax Consultant Accused Of Misusing ₹45 Lakh Meant For GST Payment
The Bombay High Court has refused anticipatory bail to a tax consultant accused of retaining over ₹45 lakh given to him by a client for GST payments and allegedly preparing fake GST bills to show that the amount had been deposited with the government.
Justice Madhav J. Jamdar was hearing an anticipatory bail application filed by Rakesh Rajendra Thakur, who was booked under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, for criminal breach of trust and cheating.
The court held that the offence was serious and Thakur was not entitled to anticipatory bail.
“Thus, the offence is very serious. The Applicant is not entitled for the relief of anticipatory bail,” Justice Jamdar observed.
According to the prosecution, the informant had engaged Thakur as his tax consultant to handle GST-related work. Thakur initially gained his trust by securing a tax deducted at source (TDS) refund for him.
Over time, the informant paid ₹77,22,580 to Thakur for GST payments. However, only ₹32,05,448 was deposited on the GST portal, while the remaining ₹45,17,132 was allegedly retained by him.
The prosecution alleged that Thakur provided fake GST-R forms and bills to make it appear that the entire amount had been deposited. The discrepancy came to light when the informant checked the GST portal after Thakur stopped answering his calls.
Thakur's counsel argued that some of the money had remained with him in the regular course of business. He contended that no offence under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the BNS was made out.
Opposing the application, the State pointed to the seriousness of the allegations and the amount that had not been refunded to the informant.
Justice Jamdar clarified that the observations were made only for deciding the anticipatory bail application. The trial court must not be influenced by these observations and must decide the case on its own merits.
For Applicant: Advocate Saurish Shetye, along with Advocate Mrityunjay Barai.
For Respondent-State: APP P.P. Jadhav.