The bench consisting of Justices MS Ramachandra Rao and T. Amarnath Goud of the Telangana High Court held in the case of M/S. Agarwal Foundries Private Ltd. vs Union Of India [Writ Petition No.28268 of 2019] that GST officials cannot use force against an individual who they suspect may be guilty of the offence of evasion of tax. The court relied on the CGST Act, 2007 to observe that the officials cannot claim liberty to use physical force on the accused.
This opinion was in light of a recent incident that took place where GST officials have alleged to have used physical force against the director of a company and his relative while conducting a raid. The individuals had to seek medical support since they were unable to even walk due to injuries caused.
