Allahabad High Court Orders Release Of GST Taxpayer Over Arrest Papers Lacking CBIC-DIN

The Allahabad High Court has recently directed the release of a GST taxpayer after holding that his arrest and detention were illegal because the grounds of arrest did not bear a CBIC-DIN and the arrest memo failed to disclose the place of arrest.

Petitioner Ashish Tyagi was arrested in connection with proceedings under Section 132(1)(a), 132(1)(f) and 132(1)(i) of the CGST Act, 2017 in a case initiated by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Ghaziabad.

The case pertained to alleged GST offences relating to the issuance of invoices and other acts made punishable under Section 132 of the CGST Act.

Tyagi contended that neither the grounds of arrest were mentioned in the arrest memo nor supplied as an annexure thereto, which he argued was in violation of Circular No. 02/2022-2023 issued by the CGST Department. He further submitted that the remand magistrate failed to consider these discrepancies before granting his remand.

A bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinai Kumar Dwivedi observed:

"We further find that the grounds of arrest dated 10.12.2025 do not bear any CBIC DIN. The petitioner has been made to endorse on the arrest memo that he had received the arrest memo along with the grounds of arrest and that he had informed Mr. Pawan Kumar, his friend, about his arrest through a mobile phone call."

The court also noted that the arrest memo did not disclose the place of arrest, in violation of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal.

Noting Tyagi's submission that a March 2025 CGST circular required every departmental document to bear a CBIC-DIN and the same was not complied with, the court held that the petitioner had been illegally detained.

Accordingly, the court held the arrest and detention to be illegal and directed Tyagi's release forthwith. It, however, clarified that the authorities would be at liberty to proceed against him afresh in accordance with law.