* 1 * Cri.Appln-3743-2010 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 3743 OF 2010 1. Pawan Kejriwal 2. Mrs. Ritu Kejriwal 3. Mrs. Rita S. Nair ........ Applicants : V E R S U S : State of Maharashtra [Inspector of Police, Palghar Police Station and Inspector of Police Economic Offences Wing, Thane Gramin] ....... Respondent ********** Mr. S.V. Marwadi, Advocate for the applicants. Mr. Y.M. Nakhwa, APP for the State-respondent. CORAM : SMT. R.P. SONDURBALDOTA, J. DATED : 27th AUGUST, 2010. P.C. :- 1. The three applicants herein apprehend their arrest in C.R. No.I-92 of 2010 dated 11th August, 2010 for the offences punishable under Sections 420, 465, 461 read with Section 34 Indian Penal Code * 2 * Cri.Appln-3743-2010 filed at the instance of the Sales Tax Office. At some point of time, the petitioners were the Directors of the Company by name Aswathi Industries Limited (hereinafter referred to as the “ company ) which carries on business of manufacturing water and ” air pollution equipments. The offence alleged in the complaint relates to the period 1st April, 2001 to 31st March, 2002, when the applicant no.1 was not its Director, but, was representing the Company in respect of its sales tax matters including filing of the returns. It is alleged that the applicants and one Suresh Kumar, Director of the Company had filed annual returns of the sales tax alongwith documents including a C-Form issued by a Company from Bangalore by name Batlibhoi Engineering. The C-Form issued by Batlibhoi was in respect of sale of goods of the value of Rs. 3,64,208/- The applicants tampered with that document by pasting a piece of paper on its reverse to show false inflated sales to the extent of Rs.1,94,70,622/-. On that sale, the Company paid sales tax of Rs.7,48,870/- at the rate of 4%, whereas, they ought to have paid sales-tax of Rs.28,65,488/-. After interpolating false figures in the C- Form issued by Batlibhoi Engineering, the Company claimed refund * 3 * Cri.Appln-3743-2010 of the sales-tax under the various schemes for the purpose. 2. The applicants contend that applicant no.1 is an Advocate by profession and he being only a Legal Advisor to the Company, cannot be held responsible for the acts alleged in the complaint. As regards applicants no.2 and 3 who are ladies, it is contended that they are primarily engaged in other activities i.e. of Insurance and had been Directors of the Company only for names sake. Applicant no.2 is the wife of applicant no.1 and applicant no.3 is the wife of Director-Suresh Kumar. It has also been submitted that applicants no.2 and 3 being ladies, special consideration should be shown to them. 3. The prosecution, on the other hand, has filed a brief note indicating the modus-operandi of the company over a long period of time. The company has been claiming wrong set-off in Sales Tax by showing more R.D. purchases from local dealers. Though the company manufactures mechanical engineering goods, it is found that it has sold readymade garments which is not its actual business and collected 4% VAT. During the course of the investigation conducted, so far it has been noticed that the total * 4 * Cri.Appln-3743-2010 amount of refund claimed by the company during the period 2002 to 2009 is Rs.1,86,62,169/-. Considering the magnitude of the fraud played, the learned Prosecutor strongly opposes the application for anticipatory bail. She submits that even applicants no.2 and 3 who are ladies should not be shown special consideration since as a Director of the Company, they are not only responsible for the conduct of business of the Company but have also received benefits of the criminal actions of the company. 4. Though applicant no.1 at the relevant time was not a Director of the Company, the complaint prima-facie shows that he was actively involved in the offence as he has been preparing and filing the returns for the company. Applicants no.2 and 3 are well educated women who additionally claim to be in the business of Insurance. They are not naive housewives. The facts of the offence alleged against the applicants are very serious. The applicants alongwith the 4th accused, Suresh Kumar have actually been robbing the nation, by claiming false refund of the sales-tax. Such crimes are committed out of sheer avarice. They are not a result of any adversity or hardship in life. Therefore, they are required to be * 5 * Cri.Appln-3743-2010 viewed seriously and any concession which would otherwise be available to any applicant has to be carefully assessed and granted. Considering all the above facts, in my opinion, this is not a case where this court should exercise its special powers and grant anticipatory bail. Hence, the application is rejected. [SMT. R.P. SONDURBALDOTA, J]