Virtually reprimanding the officials of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), the Punjab and Haryana high court found prima facie evidence that officials illegally detained a person overnight in violation of his constitutional rights. The court expressed serious concern over procedural lapses, obstruction of a court-appointed warrant officer, and the apparent disregard for fundamental liberties in a high-profile GST investigation.
In its detailed order, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar observed that DGGI’s actions were legally questionable and constitutionally untenable. The prolonged stay was deemed coercive, especially as the detainee was not free to leave, and his family had to approach the court for his release.
Further rejecting the DGGI’s claim that CCTV cameras were non-functional due to construction, the court noted that the explanation about faulty CCTVs appeared deliberate and evasive, as all the electronic and digital resources of the zonal office, including the E-office portal, were fully functional.
The observations from the HC were made in the wake of a habeas corpus petition filed by Barkha Bansal, seeking the release of her husband Bharat Lal Garg, whom she alleged was unlawfully detained by DGGI officials starting June 4.
“It is apparent that while DGGI officials put the detainee under restraint at 5:46 pm on June 5, they did not show any urgency in supplying the grounds of arrest to him. As such, the subsequent process of arrest and remand stands vitiated. Moreover, the DGGI officials also failed to supply the detainee with the ‘reasons to believe’ that he committed an offence under the CGST Act, necessitating his arrest. Such conduct is in clear violation of the ratio laid down by the Supreme Court in different cases and would therefore render the arrest of the detainee illegal and non est in the eyes of the law,” the HC observed.
The matter has now been fixed for July 30 for further consideration of the issue revolving around the obstruction caused to the warrant officer appointed by the HC, as well as for the release of the detainee in question.
“The Additional Director General of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence, Chandigarh zonal unit, is directed to file an affidavit showing complete compliance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court in a 2021 case titled Paramvir Singh Saini versus Baljit Singh regarding operational CCTV cameras during interrogation and also to deliberate therein why the directions issued by this court on July 2 regarding the production of records have not been complied with,” the HC observed in its order released on Wednesday.
In this case, the HC on June 5 appointed a warrant officer to inspect the DRI office located in the Central Revenue Building, Sector 17, Chandigarh. The warrant officer, accompanied by local police, recovered the detainee from the premises of an IRS officer, where he was allegedly being held under guard by a departmental peon. Later, on July 2, the ADG (GST) was directed to file an affidavit naming all officials present during the incident and disclosing the status of CCTV installations, in line with the guidelines prescribed by the Supreme Court.
Illegal Custody
“The court does not find any justifiable reasons to condone keeping the detainee in the zonal office for over 30 hours. Curiously, a prima facie cognisable offence was yet to be made out against the detainee, and in spite of that, he was kept in the zonal office overnight and subjected to prolonged interrogation,” said Justice Harpreet Singh Brar.
Source #TOI
