Serious economic offence involving cheating and forgery; forged GST bills used to mislead client, court holds anticipatory bail not justified.
In a significant ruling delivered on October 9, 2026, the Bombay High Court, presided over by Justice Madhav J. Jamdar, dismissed the anticipatory bail application filed by Rakesh Rajendra Thakur, a tax consultant accused of a grave economic offence involving cheating and forgery. The case stems from allegations that Thakur, entrusted with over Rs. 77 lakh by his client for GST payments, retained a substantial portion of the amount and produced forged documents to create a false impression of compliance.
According to the prosecution, the complainant had handed over Rs. 77,22,580 to Thakur for depositing GST dues with the government. However, only Rs. 32,05,448 was actually paid into the GST portal. The remaining Rs. 45,17,070 was allegedly retained by Thakur. To conceal this, he reportedly fabricated GST bills and GST-R forms, showing these forged documents to the complainant as proof of payment.
The complainant became suspicious when Thakur stopped responding to calls and subsequently verified on the GST portal that the full amount was not remitted. This discovery led to the registration of a criminal case at Junnar Police Station under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Thakur's counsel argued that the dispute arose during the regular course of business and no offence was made out. However, the court rejected this contention, emphasizing the seriousness of the offence involving economic fraud and forgery. The court noted that the fabrication of documents to deceive the complainant constituted a serious crime, and thus, the applicant was not entitled to anticipatory bail.
The court further observed that the judgment was strictly confined to the anticipatory bail application and did not prejudice the trial court's independent assessment of the case on its merits.
This judgment underscores the judiciary's stern stance against economic offences involving tax fraud and document forgery, reinforcing the message that misuse of entrusted public money, especially in statutory payments like GST, will be dealt with strictly.
Bottom Line:
Anticipatory bail - Allegation against tax consultant of retaining large amount entrusted for GST payment and showing forged/fake GST forms and bills as if payment was made on GST portal - Serious economic offence involving cheating and forgery - Pre-arrest bail refused.
Statutory provision(s): Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 Section 482, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 Sections 316(2), 318(4)
Rakesh Rajendra Thakur v. State of Maharashtra, (Bombay) : Law Finder Doc Id # 2996367
