STATE OF GUJARAT Appearance: MR BHADRISH RAJU with MR RUCHIT J VYAS(10687) for the Applicant(s) No. 1 NOTICE SERVED for the Respondent(s) No. 3,4,5,6 NOTICE UNSERVED for the Respondent(s) No. 2 MR MITESH AMIN, PUBLIC PROSECUTOR with MS JIRGA JHAVERI, ADDL. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent(s) No. 1 and HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE MAUNA M. BHATT Date : 13/07/2022 CAV JUDGMENT (PER : HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE SONIA GOKANI) 1. The petition is preferred seeking the directions of issuance of writ of habeas corpus for the respondent no.6 brother of the present petitioner, allegedly illegally confined by the GST Officer respondent no.2 since 18.03.2022. The Page 1 of 75 Downloaded on : Fri Jul 15 21:25:45 IST 2022 R/SCR.A/3089/2022 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 13/07/2022 respondent no.6 is the real brother of the petitioner and is engaged professionally as tax consultant. He also works in relation to the license. The petitioner and his brother both reside together. 2. It is averred by the petitioner that a raid was conducted by the GST Officers at the residence of one person namely Mr. Bharat Patel situated at Bhaktinagar Society, near IDBI Bank, Gurukul Road, Ahmedabad on 17.03.2022. During the said raid, a laptop was found which had certain material which nececiated calling of the respondent no. 6 on 18.03.2022. The respondent no.6 was called between 2:00 to 3:00 pm at the residence of Mr. Bharat Patel by GST Officers through phone call made by the son of Mr. Bharat Patel. 2.1. The respondent no. 6 when visited Mr. Bharat Patel's residence, the respondent no.2 along with the GST officers started interrogating him. At 3:48 pm, the respondent no.6 along with several GST officers including respondent no.2 visited the residence of the petitioner and informed the family members that they were having the search warrant and also an authority to raid the residence. The GST officers along with respondent no.2 left at around 9:23 pm and by then, they had seized computer, cheque books and other documents from the Page 2 of 75 Downloaded on : Fri Jul 15 21:25:45 IST 2022 R/SCR.A/3089/2022 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 13/07/2022 residence. 2.2. The petitioner reached the GST office, Ashram Road at around 10:23 pm along with his friends, but, he was not allowed to enter the GST building premise by the guards. He was not permitted as except with the permission of the concerned officer, such entry was not allowed. In order to know the whereabouts of the respondent no.6, the GST officers were called by the petitioner and from the raiding team's mobile number being 9979651283, such inquiry was made. The petitioner learnt that the respondent no.6 has been called under the pretext of recording his statement pursuant to the raid conducted at Mr. Bharat Patel's residence. He was to be allowed to go home in a couple of hours. He was also ensured that the respondent no.2 would make petitioner speak to the respondent no.6. He therefore waited till 3:00 am in the morning and had no option but to return to the residence. 2.3. The next day i.e. on 19.03.2022, the petitioner again went to the GST office and was not allowed the entry. He again failed to get any information about the whereabouts of respondent no.6 and therefore, he tried to contact the respondent no.2 on his mobile number being 9638841415. He Page 3 of 75