DGGI Ghaziabad | Court Grants 14-Day Judicial Remand in Rs. 36.42 Crore GST ITC Evasion Case

The Court of the Special Chief Judicial Magistrate (SCJM), Meerut granted a 14-day judicial remand of an accused, Jaikumar Agarwal in a major Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion case involving alleged fraudulent availment of Input Tax Credit (ITC) amounting to approximately Rs. 36.42 crore. The case is being investigated by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Ghaziabad. According to the prosecution, the accused, Jaikumar Agarwal, son of Ramkumar Agarwal and a resident of Sector-23, Gurugram (Haryana), is the proprietor of M/s Stradco Trading Pvt. Ltd. The DGGI alleged that Agarwal fraudulently availed ITC worth ₹36.42 crore during the period April 2024 to November 2025 by routing transactions through 14 supplier firms. Presenting the accused before the court, Investigating Intelligence Officer Manish Kumar stated that physical verification revealed that all 14 supplier firms were either non-existent or not carrying out any genuine business activity at their registered premises. The alleged fake ITC claims were detailed in Table No. 2 of the investigation records. The accused was arrested on January 16 after the investigating agency claimed to have followed due process, including reading out the grounds of arrest in both Hindi and English. The prosecution submitted that the accused acknowledged the grounds of arrest by signing the arrest documents on the same date. A formal arrest memo stating the reasons for arrest was also furnished and placed on record. In support of the remand request, the DGGI produced panchnamas related to the alleged supplier firms, seized digital devices, and other documents referenced in Form INS-02. A sealed ‘Reason to Believe’ form was also submitted for the court’s perusal. Counsel appearing for the accused strongly opposed the remand, contending that Agarwal had been falsely implicated. The defence argued that no valid documents justifying the arrest had been provided to the accused and alleged non-compliance with binding legal safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court. Relying on landmark judgments including Radhika Agarwal v. Union of India, Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India, ED v. Subhash Sharma, Vihaan Kumar v. State of Haryana, Mohd. Asfaq Alam v. State of Jharkhand, and Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, the defence asserted that the accused was not supplied a copy of the written grounds of arrest, thereby violating constitutional and procedural requirements. The accused also pleaded ill health, seeking medical examination and treatment under Section 53 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and urged the court to deny remand and cancel the custody sought by the prosecution. After hearing both sides and examining the case diary and documents on record, the Special CJM observed that the prosecution material prima facie indicated large-scale tax evasion through non-existent firms. The court noted that the investigation was still ongoing and that further inquiry could potentially uncover additional amounts of tax evasion and the involvement of other accused persons forming part of a larger syndicate. The court accepted the prosecution’s submission that the grounds of arrest were duly communicated to the accused and that the arrest memo and related documents were available on record. The sealed “Reason to Believe” form was also examined by the court. In view of the seriousness of the allegations, the magnitude of the alleged evasion, and the continuing nature of the investigation, the court held that custodial remand was justified. Allowing the application, the Special CJM ordered that the judicial remand of the accused for 14 days be accepted. The court directed that the accused be produced from the district jail on January 30, 2026, the next scheduled date of hearing. The case is expected to have significant implications for GST enforcement, particularly in matters involving alleged fake ITC networks and the procedural safeguards governing arrests under fiscal laws. Case Details Case Title: Jaikumar Agarwal Versus DGGI Case No.: 1361/2025 Date: 17/01/2026 Counsel For Dept: SPP Lakshay Kumar Click Here To Read Order Read More: ICAI Postpones Of Paper-5 of CA Intermediate Examination

DGGI Ghaziabad | Court Grants 14-Day Judicial Remand in Rs. 36.42 Crore GST ITC Evasion Case

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