Thane Sessions Court Rejects CA Pravin Poddar’s Anticipatory Bail In ₹851 Crore GST Fraud Case

Thane, March 3: The Thane Sessions Court has rejected the anticipatory bail application filed by Chartered Accountant Pravin Poddar in connection with an alleged GST fraud case involving transactions worth crores of rupees.

In its four-page order, the court, presided over by Judge R.S. Bhakare, observed, “The present applicant, Poddar, was doing the yearly audit of Unicon Tie Up Pvt. Ltd. Transactions of about Rs 851 crore have taken place in the said company. A huge amount is involved in the offence, causing wrongful loss to the government. Considering the serious nature of the offence, custodial interrogation of the applicant appears necessary.”

Allegations of forged GST registration

According to the prosecution, the complaint was lodged by a Sales Tax Inspector from the Goods and Services Tax office at Mazgaon, Mumbai. The main accused, Naresh Yakub Athavale, allegedly posed as a registered GST trader as the proprietor of M/s Splash Traders.

Investigations revealed that Athavale allegedly submitted forged documents and false information in GST Form No. 1 to obtain registration under the GST Act. Based on the allegedly fraudulent registration, he is accused of securing GST returns amounting to Rs 1,85,88,851, thereby causing wrongful loss to the government.

Transactions and notice under BNSS

The prosecution further stated that transactions worth approximately Rs 851 crore took place in Unicon Tie Up Pvt. Ltd., and that Rs 59 lakh was transferred from M/s Splash Traders to the company on February 15, 2019.

It was also submitted that despite a notice issued under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Poddar did not appear before the investigating officer.

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The defence argued that Poddar was not named in the FIR, claimed innocence and contended that the case was based on documentary evidence, making custodial interrogation unnecessary. However, the court rejected the plea, citing the seriousness of the allegations.

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