GST Arrest Order Must Reach You Before You Can Be Arrested: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a Commissioner's order authorising arrest under Section 69 of the CGST Act must be communicated to the person before any arrest, so that the right to seek anticipatory bail is real rather than theoretical.

The Supreme Court has held that an order authorising arrest under Section 69 of the CGST Act must actually reach the person concerned before he can be arrested. In Union of India v. Sunil Biyani (neutral citation 2026 INSC 849), a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu ruled on 12 August 2026 that the Commissioner's written authorisation, recording his reasons to believe that an offence under Section 132 has been committed, is not an internal departmental paper. It has to be communicated.

The Court said communication may be made electronically, since every GST registrant supplies an email address and a mobile number at registration, and that telling the person does not obstruct the investigation. Its words were plain: without such communication, the question of arrest would not arise. A person who does not know an arrest has been authorised cannot exercise his right to seek anticipatory bail. The same judgment also held that a High Court dismissing a pre-arrest bail plea as premature cannot, in the same breath, grant interim protection.

What this means for you

This sits alongside CBIC's own instruction to its officers, which requires the grounds of arrest to be explained and recorded in the arrest memo. If you are drawn into a GST investigation, ask in writing for a copy of the Section 69 authorisation. Read Instruction No. 02/2022-23 (GST-Investigation) dated 17 August 2022 at https://gstcouncil.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-06/instructuon-no-02-2022-23-inv.pdf and Section 69 in the consolidated CGST Act at https://cbic-gst.gov.in/pdf/CGST-Act-Updated-01082021.pdf. Verify the judgment at https://www.sci.gov.in.

Topics:section 69 CGSTGST arrestarrest authorisationanticipatory bail GSTSunil BiyaniSupreme Court GSTGST investigationarrest memoInstruction 02/2022-23section 132 CGSTGST summonsChennai GST

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