No Embargo Under The CGST Act Restraining Pre-Arrest Bail: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court allowed anticipatory bail to a person who apprehended arrest for supposed infractions of the Central Goods and Services Tax. Finding that there was no embargo to a person’s applying for pre-arrest bail under the legislation, Justice Ashok Menon stated, “There is no embargo under the CGST Act restraining the applicant from seeking pre-arrest bail. There is no analogous provision under Sections 18 and 18A of the SC/ST( Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, preventing grant of anticipatory bail.” In finding that a grant of anticipatory bail under GST law was permissible, the Court analysed sections of the CGST legislation that provided for arrest against provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Constitution.