The Bombay High Court in a ruling addressed the problem of routine arrests under GST allegations. The matter of Mahesh Devchand Gala vs Union of India brought to light the arbitrary detention practices of authorities, pressing the court to grant interim bail to the applicant.
The applicant, Mahesh Devchand Gala, approached the Bombay High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking to quash his arrest by the Inspector of CGST and Central Excise, Mumbai (West Commissionerate).
The arrest derived from an old GST-related matter dating back to 2021, concerning Om Sai Nityanand Management Pvt. Ltd. The company had adhered with the authorities by paying Rs. 23.61 lakh in cash and securing Rs. 2.93 crores via the blocking of Input Tax Credit (ITC). Despite this, Gala was detained and thereafter arrested in 2024.
The applicant’s counsel, Mr Ponda stressed the arbitrary nature of the arrest. He claimed that the GST returns and the audit reports from 2017 to 2020 were already available to the authorities, negating the need for detaining Gala overnight.
He pointed to inconsistencies in the timeline of the respondent and stressed the unjustified delay in producing the applicant before a magistrate. The counsel quoted the judgment of the Supreme Court in Arnab Manoranjan Goswami vs the State of Maharashtra, highlighting the abuse of state power in arrests without substantial grounds.
Related ASG opposed that the arrest was legal and the delay was justified. The respondent who filed the affidavit specifies the timeline of events from the applicant’s entry into the CGST office to his eventual production before the magistrate, claiming that all actions were within legal bounds.
Post examining the facts, the Bombay High Court, sided with the petitioner’s opinions. The applicant had been detained for over 24 hours without adequate justification, showing a high-handed approach by the authorities, the court observed. Arrests could not be incurred in a routine based only on allegations, since it overlooks the individual’s liberty and reputation, the court underscored.
The Supreme Court’s observation is been cited by the court that lack of liberty even for a single day is too much, supports the necessity for judicial oversight in cases of arrest.
Read Also: GST Dept Can’t Arrest an Assessee Without Proper Justification & Recovery Notice
The ruling in Mahesh Devchand Gala vs Union of India is an influential reminder of the role of the judiciary in protecting individual liberties against arbitrary state actions. The decision of the Bombay HC to grant interim bail and criticize the routine nature of arrests under GST statutes sets a precedent for the subsequent matters.
The same ruling repeated that arrests must be incurred judiciously, assuring that the fundamental rights of the individuals are not crushed in the pursuit of the statute enforcement.
| Case Title | Mahesh Devchand Gala Vs Union of India |
| Order No | Criminal Writ Petition No. 938 of 2024 |
| Date | 10.05.2024 |
| For Petitioner | Mr Aabad Ponda, Mr. Hrishikesh Mundargi, Ms Komal Joshi, Mr Pushkraj Deshpande, Mr. Piyush Pandhare and Mr. Rohan Marathe |
| For Respondent | Mr. Devang Vyas, Mr. Jitendra B. Mishra, Mr. Shilong Shah, Mr. Satyaprakash Sharma, Mr. Ashutosh Mishra and Mr. Rupesh Dubey |
| Bombay High Court | Read Order |
