The Jharkhand High Court at Ranchi comprising the bench of Justice Ambuj Nath has granted bail to Gulbahar Malik, proprietor of Ranchi Trading Co., who was arrested in connection with an alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion case amounting to Rs. 27.52 crore.
The case, registered as Complaint Case No. 2933 of 2025, arose from a Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) investigation under File No. DGGI/INTL/1465/2024-GRC. Malik was accused of setting up multiple fake firms to fraudulently evade taxes between the financial year 2021 and 2025.
The petitioner argued that he had already been in judicial custody for over two months. They further submitted that while the charges were serious, the maximum prescribed punishment under Sections 132(1)(b), 132(1)(c), and 132(5) of the CGST Act, 2017, was five years of imprisonment, and the prosecution report along with the charge sheet had already been filed.
Opposing the bail, DGGI, contended that the accused had orchestrated a large-scale tax evasion scheme by floating shell entities. However, acknowledging the length of custody and the stage of proceedings, the court ruled in favour of bail.
The High Court directed Malik’s release on bail upon furnishing a bail bond of ₹20,000 with two sureties of equal amount, to the satisfaction of the Special Judge, Economic Offence Court, Jamshedpur.
Case Details
Case Title: Gulbahar Malik Versus Union of India
Case No.: B.A. No. 7327 of 2025
Date: 27.08.2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Sumeet Gadodia, Advocate
Counsel For Respondent: P.A.S.Pati, Advocate
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