Mumbai: A city court recently granted bail to a contractor who was arrested by the Maharashtra Goods & Services Tax (GST) department for allegedly availing input tax credit by using fake invoices. The court gave relief to the accused – who undertook to pay his tax liability within nine months of his release – and asked him to cooperate with the case investigation.
According to the GST department, an investigation was conducted in the case of Dhanlaxmi Electrical (Belapur) under a special operation carried out against tax-evading firms. Mohammad MS Khan, the proprietor of Dhanalaxmi Electrical (a Class 1 contractor of the Public Works Department), had allegedly availed input tax credit of ₹15.67 crore on fake invoices from non-genuine taxpayers without movement of any goods or services.
A liability of ₹4,60, 61,781
Khan was arrested on February 4 and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Mumbai. While granting bail, the court said in its recent order, “The liability remains ₹4,60, 61,781. The applicant submitted an affidavit-cum-undertaking dated February 10, 2023, that he will deposit the amount within months after the day of his release, in six equal instalments of ₹76.77 lakh each.” The court said that as per the applicant, his wife is suffering from cancer and he is required to look after her.
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The court further stated that the applicant has already paid ₹2 crore, as submitted by him, which is not objected to by the respondent and since he had submitted an undertaking for the payment of the remaining amount in instalments there was no reason to keep him behind bars. The court directed Khan to not “influence and tamper with the prosecution witnesses and evidence” and to “cooperate” with the case investigation. It also asked him to take the court's permission prior to any travel abroad.
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