The Court observed that the applicant was in a position of trust and had affirmatively fabricated GST documents to deceive his client — the offence was very serious.
The Bombay High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail application of a tax consultant accused of misappropriating Rs. 45,17,132 out of Rs. 77,22,580 entrusted to him for payment of GST on the portal [Rakesh Rajendra Thakur v. State of Maharashtra].
Justice Madhav J. Jamdar noted that the applicant, engaged as a tax consultant for filing returns and allied work, had deposited only Rs. 32,05,448 on the GST Portal and retained the balance. To conceal the shortfall, he had prepared forged GST-R forms and shown them to the client to create the impression that the full amount had been deposited.
The fraud came to light only when the client, finding the applicant unreachable, independently accessed the GST portal and discovered the discrepancy.
The applicant contended that amounts had remained with him in the regular course of business. The Court rejected this, observing that the applicant was receiving remuneration, was in a position of trust, and had not merely failed to remit payments but had affirmatively fabricated documents. The application was dismissed.
The case serves as a cautionary instance for taxpayers who entrust substantial sums to consultants for portal-based filings without independently verifying payment status on the GST portal.
2026-juristway.com-2944-HC(Bombay)-GST | High Court of Bombay | Anticipatory Bail Application No. 2370 of 2026 | 09.10.2026
