Gauhati High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Man Accused Of Passing Fake Input-Tax Credit Worth ₹199.31 Crores
The Gauhati High Court has granted anticipatory bail to the accused of passing fake ITC worth Rs. 199.31 crores, which was passed to 58 firms across 11 States using fabricated invoices totalling Rs. 658.88 Crores. Justice Kardak Ete was dealing with the case where the accused persons, led by Ashutosh Kumar Jha, had created a fictitious firm, M/s Siddhi Vinayak Trade Merchants,...
The Gauhati High Court has granted anticipatory bail to the accused of passing fake ITC worth Rs. 199.31 crores, which was passed to 58 firms across 11 States using fabricated invoices totalling Rs. 658.88 Crores.
Justice Kardak Ete was dealing with the case where the accused persons, led by Ashutosh Kumar Jha, had created a fictitious firm, M/s Siddhi Vinayak Trade Merchants, using forged documents, including a fake seal of JMFC Changlang, Aadhaar, PAN Card, and electricity bills.
Through the said firm, fake Input Tax Credits worth Rs. 199.31 Crores were passed to 58 firms across 11 (eleven) States using fabricated invoices totalling Rs. 658.88 Crores.
In this case, the applicant engaged one Chartered Accountant, Asis Kumar Jha, in the year 2021 for filing of returns of income taxes and GST and also obtained a loan of Rs. 30,00,000/- from the said Asis Kumar Jha.
After the demise of said Asis Kumar Jha in a road accident, the applicant continued to repay the loan to his widow on an instalment basis.
In the meantime, one Ashutosh Kumar Jha, a former employee of Late Asis Kumar Jha, took over the work and allegedly began to pressurise the applicant for payment of the balance amount of the loan obtained from Late Asis Kumar Jha, although the applicant was paying the same to the wife of Late Asis Kumar Jha.
The applicant submitted that he is in no way connected with the said business of M/S Siddhi Vinayak Trade Merchants, which is alleged to be run by Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Jha. The applicant, as soon as he came to know about the case, had joined the investigation. The allegation in the case pertains to the offence alleged to have been committed by Shri Ashutosh Kumar Jha and his associates, of which the applicant is unaware.
The bench noted that the main accused- Shri Ashutosh Kumar Jha has already been arrested and subsequently released on bail on the ground that the police have failed to file a charge-sheet within the statutory period of 90 (ninety) days. The applicant has been examined, and his statement recorded, which is corroborated by his bank transactions and WhatsApp communications with the main accused, Ashutosh Kumar Jha.
The bench further observed that the accused/applicant has appeared before the Investigating Officer on 20.10.2025, and he is cooperating with the investigation and his statement has been recorded, which indicates that the same corroborates with the bank statement and WhatsApp conversation with the main accused- Shri Ashutosh Kumar Jha.
The bench noted that on being examined and recording of statement, custodial interrogation of the accused/applicant appears not to be required. Thus, the accused/applicant is entitled to be admitted to the privilege of pre-arrest bail.
In view of the above, the bench allowed the anticipatory bail application.
Case Title: Faiz Ahmed v. The State of AP
Case Number: AB/103/2025
Counsel for Petitioner/Assessee: Md. Apzal Ansari
Counsel for Respondent/Department: P P of AP, Tania Kipa