Eye Share: The P.V. Ramana Reddy Judgment - Power to Arrest Under Special Laws vis-a-vis Code of Criminal Procedure

The grant of powers of arrest under fiscal statutes has often come under the microscope and the GST law is no different. While enforcement of the new tax regime was initially put on the back burner, as the GST law progresses, tackling tax evasion has become one of the tax authorities’ top priorities. Of late, countless cases have been filed by persons seeking relief under the apprehension of arrest, and there have been multiple contradictory High Court judgments on the extent of the GST officials’ power to arrest. In a case before the High Court of Telangana, the court refused to take action to protect the petitioners against arrest, however the High Courts of Karnataka and the High Court of Bombay granted anticipatory bail to the aggrieved in similar matters. Many of these cases have also reached the Apex court. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal against the aforementioned judgment of the High Court of Telangana, confirming the High Court’s order. However, in its order on the appeal filed against the judgment of the High Court of Bombay, a division bench of the Supreme Court acknowledged the need for clarification on the issue, and referred the matter to a three judge bench. In anticipation of this three judge bench Supreme Court judgment, the authors critically analyse the P.V. Ramana Reddy and Others v. Union of India (2019) judgment which was passed by the High Court of Telangana and affirmed by the Supreme Court in its order dated 27.5.2019.