GST fraud: SC refuses to grant protection from arrest to absconding accused
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant protection from arrest to an "absconding" accused, stranded at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, following revocation of his Indian passport in a GST fraud case. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar was urged by senior advocate Raju Ramchandran, appearing for Aarushi Aggarwal, that her husband Nishant was more than willing to come to India to join the investigation.
Nishant and few others are accused of creating fake companies by using Aadhaar and PAN cards to cheat the government and get tax benefits illegally under the GST law.
Nishant, whose Indian passport was cancelled following the issuance of a Blue Corner notice, is presently at Kuala Lumpur and moved to the top court through his wife Aarushi.
Ramchandran said his travel to India should be facilitated given his passport was cancelled aside from being granted protection from arrest for a few days to seek anticipatory bail in the case back home. He also said many other accused persons were already on bail. "You travelled to Dubai, Malaysia and Indonesia. But you did not not come to India to join the investigation, said the CJI.
