PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to businessman Piyush Jain, whose premises were raided last year and Rs 200 crore in cash and 23 kg of gold were seized by central agencies.
His arrest just before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls had led to a row with the BJP calling the Kanpur-based perfume trader a "friend" of the Samajwadi Party (SP).
But the opposition party had alleged that Jain belonged to the BJP.
Justice Subhash Vidyarthi allowed the bail application by Jain on his furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh and two reliable sureties each of the like amount.
Jain was arrested on December 26, 2021 after being accused of evading tax by the Director General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).
The court said the applicant will not tamper with the evidence during the trial or influence any witnesses.
He will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless his personal presence is exempted, in which case he will appear through his counsel, the court said.
He will not, directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court to any police officer or tamper with the evidence, the court said.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to move an application before this court seeking cancellation of the present order bail, it said.
"The applicant has already spent more than eight months in jail and during this period, the department has not sought his custodial interrogation, which shows that his custody is not at all required," the court observed.
"The applicant has no previous criminal history and he has already been granted bail in the case under the Customs Act. He does not hold a passport and, therefore, he is not at a flight risk," it said.
On December 22, 2021, officers of the DGGI raided the residence and office of Jain in Kannuaj and Kanpur.
Cash amounting to Rs 196.57 crore and 23 kg of gold was seized by the officials.