GST – Arrest Guidelines for Officials

By | September 29, 2016
(Last Updated On: September 29, 2016)

GST – Arrest Guidelines for Officials

As per FAQs on GST released by CBEC , Question No 23 and 24 on -Inspection, Search, Seizure and Arrest gives the following guidlines for Arrest under GST

Q 23. What are the precautions to be taken during arrest?

Ans. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) relating to arrest and the procedure thereof must be adhered to. It is therefore necessary that all field officers of CGST/SGST be fully familiar with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

One important provision to be taken note of is section 57 of Cr.P.C., 1973 which provides that a person arrested without warrant shall not be detained for a longer period than, under the circumstances of the case, is reasonable but this shall not exceed twenty four hours (excluding the journey time from place of arrest to the Magistrate’s court). Within this period, as provided under section 56 of Cr.P.C., the person making the arrest shall send the person arrested without warrant before a Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case.

In a landmark judgment in the case of D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal reported in 1997 (1) SCC 416, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has laid down specific guidelines required to be followed while making arrests. While this is in relation to police, it needs to be followed by all departments having power of arrest. These are as under:

i. The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register.

ii. The police officer carrying out the arrest shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may be either a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be counter signed by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest.

iii. A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a police station or interrogation center or other lock up, shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known to him or having interest in his welfare being informed, as soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular place, unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest is himself such a friend or a relative of the arrestee.

iv. The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town through the Legal Aid Organization in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.

v. An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.

vi. The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his/her body, must be recorded at that time. The ‘Inspection Memo’ must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.

vii. The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by the trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctors appointed by Director, Health Services of the concerned State or Union Territory, Director, Health Services should prepare such a panel for all Tehsils and Districts as well.

viii. Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be sent to the Magistrate for his record.

ix. The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.

x. A police control room should be provided at all district and State headquarters where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and at the police control room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.

Q 24. What are the broad guidelines for arrest followed in CBEC?

Ans. Decision to arrest needs to be taken on case-to case basis considering various factors, such as, nature and gravity of offence, quantum of duty evaded or credit wrongfully availed, nature and quality of evidence, possibility of evidences being tampered with or witnesses being influenced, cooperation with the investigation, etc. Power to arrest has to be exercised after careful consideration of the facts of the case which may include:

i. to ensure proper investigation of the offence;

ii. to prevent such person from absconding;

iii. cases involving organized smuggling of goods or evasion of customs duty by way of concealment;

iv. master minds or key operators effecting proxy/ benami imports/exports in the name of dummy or non-existent persons/IECs, etc;

v. where the intent to evade duty is evident and element of mensrea/guilty mind is palpable;

vi. prevention of the possibility of tampering with evidence;

vii. intimidating or influencing witnesses; and viii. large amounts of evasion of duty or service tax at least exceeding one crore rupees. 

Education Guide on Goods & Service Tax (GST)


S. No.Title of the Post
1.Goods and Services Tax (GST): An Overview
2 Levy of GST & Exemption from Tax
3.GST Registration
4.Meaning  and Scope of Supply
 5Time of Supply
6Valuation in GST
7.GST  Payment of Tax
8Electronic Commerce under Goods & Service Tax (GST)
9Job Work under Goods & Service Tax (GST)
10Input Tax Credit under Goods & Service Tax (GST)
11Concept of Input Service Distributor in Goods & Service Tax (GST)
12Returns Process and matching of Input Tax Credit under GST
13Assessment and Audit under GST
14Refund under GST
15Demands and Recovery under GST
16Appeals, Review and Revision in GST
17Advance Ruling in Goods and Service Tax (GST)
18Settlement Commission in Goods and Service Tax (GST)
19Inspection, Search, Seizure and Arrest under GST
20Offences, Penalty, Prosecution & Compounding in GST
21Integrated Goods & Service Tax (IGST) Act Overview
22.Place of Supply of Goods and Service under GST
23.Frontend Business Process on GST Portal
24.Transitional Provisions in Goods & Service Tax (GST)

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.