Panvel bizman granted bail in ₹60-crore GST fake invoice case

Uike was ordered to be released on a personal bond of ₹2 lakh with sureties, with a provisional option to furnish cash bail in the same amount for a period of two months

MUMBAI: The Esplanade court recently granted bail to Panvel-based businessman Nandlal Pandurang Uike, who was arrested on August 25 for allegedly committing Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud involving ₹60 crore in fake invoices and wrongful input tax credit (ITC) of ₹10.68 crore.

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The additional chief judicial magistrate SK Fokmare passed the order last week, holding that Uike’s further detention was unwarranted. “The custodial interrogation is already completed and therefore now there is no necessity to keep the accused behind bars,” the court observed.

Uike, proprietor of M/s SP Machiners and Services, argued that he had been “falsely implicated. The absconding co-accused, Rajesh Mourya and Sunil Parate, have misused his login credentials, claimed Uike. His counsel, Nitin Kamble, submitted that the case was “based only on documentary evidence” already seized by investigators, leaving no scope for further custodial interrogation.

The prosecution stressed the gravity of the charges, relying on a Supreme Court ruling that “economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in a matter of bail.” It also alleged that Uike had facilitated bogus transactions, including those related to “tele-communication mobile top-up vouchers,” and had received ₹50,000 from Mourya through bank transfers.

In its reasoning, the court also highlighted that offences under the GST Act, though serious, are “subject to certain restrictions of a compoundable nature” and that the powers of prosecution are “ancillary and incidental to the power to levy and collect Goods and Services Tax.”

Uike was ordered to be released on a personal bond of ₹2 lakh with sureties, with a provisional option to furnish cash bail in the same amount for a period of two months.