The Court held that pursuing parallel remedies before multiple fora while concealing adverse orders amounts to abuse of process, and laid down guidance on listing matters during court vacations.

The Supreme Court has set aside the disposal of a bail petition by the Karnataka High Court in a prosecution alleging issuance of invoices without supply, fraudulent availment of input tax credit and falsification of records causing a loss of Rs. 43,08,22,936 under Section 132 of the CGST Act, and remitted the matter for fresh decision [Senior Intelligence Officer v. Mohammed Kamran].

A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu found that the accused had pursued bail before the Sessions Court and a writ petition challenging his arrest while his bail petition was already pending before the High Court. The refusal of ad-interim release in the writ petition on 22.12.2025 was not disclosed when he obtained urgent listing of the bail petition during the winter vacation and secured bail four days later.

The Court observed that the accused had indulged in suppressio veri and suggestio falsi, that such parallel pursuit of remedies without disclosure must be severely deprecated, and that obtaining vacation listing without adequate notice to the Department was an attempt to steal a march by misleading the Court.

Considering that over nine months had passed, investigation was complete, the offences were Magistrate-triable and the maximum punishment was five years, the Court did not cancel bail outright. The accused will remain on interim bail, the Department may file its counter within two weeks, and the Single Judge is to decide the petition afresh, preferably by the end of the year.

The Court also observed that where a Bench directs listing "two weeks hence" and that date falls during vacation, the registry should ordinarily compute the period excluding the vacation, unless the matter was made returnable on a specific vacation date or directed to be listed before the Vacation Bench.

2026-juristway.com-3023-SC-GST  |  Supreme Court of India   16.10.2026