Delhi Court grants bail to GST inspector in illegal gratification case

A Delhi court on Friday has granted bail to a GST official, who was accused of accepting illegal gratification from a shop owner. The official had asked for a bribe in order not to cancel the GST registration of the owner within a week of his arrest. The shop owner had reported the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation, alleging that the officer had sought illegal gratification from him over the phone on September 9. 

The GST inspector's advocate, Vijay Aggarwal said that his client had been falsely implicated. "It is clear from two factors, one being that his client was alleged to have made a phone call from a number on September 9, when in fact the phone number was purchased by his client only on the 21 of the said month and two, that the illegal gratification was allegedly recovered from the pocket of his client," he submitted. 

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Earlier, Aggarwal had told the court that there was no hand touch on the alleged illegal gratification, hence plantation cannot be ruled out. Later, the CBI had then laid a trap and allegedly caught the officer in possession of the illegal gratification. The Special Judge Raj Kumar Chauhan said that the accused was in judicial custody since his arrest and he cannot be kept in custody for an indefinite time, thus granting him bail.

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Major changes in GST rates

The all-powerful GST (goods and services tax) Council made some major changes in the tax rate of goods and services with a view to addressing sectoral concerns in a slowing economy. These tax changes have come on a day when the government announced big reductions in corporate tax rates to boost private investments and pull the economy out of a six-year low growth and a 45-year high unemployment rate.

The 37th meeting of the GST Council was headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with the representatives of all states. While the council did not take a decision on cutting tax on automobiles as well as items like biscuits, it made some changes in the tax rates of hotel tariffs and caffeinated beverages. In all, the GST Council revised rates on 20 goods and 12 services. The minister said the rate changes shall be made effective from October 1.

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(with ANI inputs)