The Allahabad High Court has refused to grant bail to an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer accused in a ₹1.5 crore GST bribery case, observing that the material on record does not justify her release at this stage. The Lucknow bench passed the order on March 10 while hearing the bail plea of Prabha Bhandari, who was posted as Deputy Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), Jhansi.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh held that no grounds were made out for granting bail, particularly in light of evidence including a recorded conversation allegedly linking the officer to the bribery transaction.
According to the prosecution, Bhandari, along with other officials, had allegedly demanded ₹1.5 crore from businessmen to settle a GST evasion case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which conducted a trap operation, recovered ₹70 lakh from a co-accused officer during the proceedings.
In her bail application, Bhandari argued that no direct recovery had been made from her and that the case against her was primarily based on statements of a co-accused, Ajay Sharma, a CGST superintendent. It was also submitted that she is pregnant, has a one-year-old child, and that the investigation has been completed with the filing of the chargesheet.
Opposing the plea, the CBI pointed to a recorded WhatsApp call between Bhandari and a co-accused, claiming it reflected acknowledgment of the bribe amount and discussions regarding its conversion into gold. The agency maintained that there was a complete chain of circumstantial and electronic evidence against her and alleged that she had not cooperated during the investigation.
After considering the submissions, the court concluded that the evidence on record did not warrant the grant of bail at this stage. However, taking note that the accused is a woman, the court directed the trial court to expedite proceedings and avoid unnecessary adjournments.
