Jharkhand High Court: GST Officers should not coerce individuals summoned to give statements after office hours

The Jharkhand High Court in the case of Shiva Kumar Deora vs. Union of India and Ors observed and has held that GST officers should not require or coerce individuals summoned under GST to give statements after office hours.

The Division bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Navneet Kumar in the case observed and has emphasized that in our opinion, the proper officer under the GST should not be requiring or forcing or coercing a person so summoned to give statement after the officer hours.

The counsel, Salona Mittal appearing for the petitioner stated that Section 50 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, which is comparable to Section 70 of the GST.

However, Mittal referenced the Supreme Courts judgement in the case Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India, wherein the court held that officers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, PMPLA are not police officers and do not exercise powers under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Supreme Court in the case observed and has stated that a person summoned as stated under section 50 is not considered an accused, and their statements do not equate to confessions, thus falling outside the protection of Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India.

Therefore, it has also been pointed out by Mittal that the FAQs on Goods and Services Tax available on the CBIC website, which outline the guidelines for issuing summons and the precautions to be observed.

Further, the GST Intelligence and Investigation Manual, 2023, provides detailed procedures for interrogation and recording statements, emphasising that statements should be recorded during office hours.

The court in the present case acknowledged the GST Intelligence and Investigation Manual 2023, which outlines procedures for Interrogation, recording statements, preparation, questioning techniques, dealing with hostile individuals, retraction, judicial interpretations, and precautions. Thus, the manual states under clause (iv) to paragraph 5.142 that statements should be recorded during officer hours.

The court noted that the Commissioner, GST-Investigation has interpreted the term ‘exception’ in clause (iv) to allow for after-hours statements in cases where there is a risk of individuals absconding or where arrests may occur. The court while considering the facts and circumstances of the case observed and has directed GST officers to adhere to the guidelines and instructions issued by the Commissioner, GST-Investigation and the CBIC when summoning individuals as stated under Section 70 of the GST Act.