Rajasthan High Court Rejects Bail To Payment Aggregator Facilitators In ₹95 Crore GST Evasion Via Online Gaming Transactions

The Rajasthan High Court rejected the bail application of the applicants accused of facilitating large-scale GST evasion through online gaming transactions. Justice Sameer Jain stated that bail should normally be granted for offences under section 132 of the CGST Act, unless extraordinary circumstances exist, and in the matter at hand, there is GST evasion of approximately Rs. 95 Crores, which shall have writ large effects on the economy of the country. In the case at hand, the applicants were engaged in providing facilitation services pertaining to company registrations with online payment aggregators. It was alleged that the applicants facilitated the onboarding of entities with various online payment aggregators for the purpose of receiving online gaming revenues. The prosecution alleges that these companies received aggregate online receipts of approximately Rs.90 crores and that GST to the tune of many crores was evaded. The applicants were arrested on 12.09.2025 and have remained in judicial custody since then. The counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants have no direct culpability, being merely facilitators/aggregators who received commission for the services rendered. The department argued that Section 132(1) of the CGST Act, tax evasion exceeding Rs.5 Crores attracts punishment of imprisonment up to five years, and such offences are classified as cognizable and non-bailable. It was further contended that the applicants pose a potential flight risk and may evade the process of law if released on bail. The bench stated that the applicants concealed the true scale of evasion (initial figures were revised upwards) and that admitted receipts and additional collections together amount to very large sums. Therefore, where concealment and deliberate obfuscation of transaction trails are apparent on record, it is neither prudent nor proper to release the accused at the interlocutory stage. The bench further observed that the present is a matter of white-collar crime. The applicant, despite being aware of the transactions related to online money gaming carried out in the name of his company, suppressed such supply of specified actionable claim, by not declaring it in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B and had deliberately furnished false information in the statutory returns. The bench opined that the bail applications are liable to be dismissed at the threshold as, Section 132 of the CGST Act, prescribes penal consequences for specified offences and provides that, inter alia, where the amount of tax evaded exceeds specified thresholds (including the threshold of Rs.5 crores), the offence is cognizable and non-bailable and attracts imprisonment up to five years. The bench stated that the allegations disclose involvement in large-scale transactions and tax evasion substantially in excess of Rs.5 crores. Such allegations squarely fall within the non-bailable, cognizable limb of Section 132(1)(i) and attract the statutory rigour attendant to large-scale tax frauds. This is a potent and determinative factor against the grant of bail In view of the above, the bench dismissed the bail application. Case Title: Manoj Kumar v. State Of Rajasthan Case Number: S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous Bail Application No. 13655/2025 Counsel for Petitioner/Accused: Naqvi Sehban Najib Counsel for Respondent/Department: Bharat Vyas Click Here To Read/Download Order

Rajasthan High Court Rejects Bail To Payment Aggregator Facilitators In ₹95 Crore GST Evasion Via Online Gaming Transactions

Mehak Dhiman

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