Full Text
HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Date of Decision: 6th October, 2025
M/S BALAJI ENTERPRISES .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Shivender Kr. Sharma, Ms. Urooj Chaudhary and Ms. Esha Sharma, Advs.
UNIT & ORS. .....Respondents
Through: Mr. Harpreet Singh, SSC
Mr. Sanidhya Sharma, Advs.
JUDGMENT
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. CM APPL. 62448/2025
2. Allowed, subject to all just exceptions. Application is disposed of.
3. The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner - M/s Balaji Enterprises, through its proprietor Mr. Sandeep Singhal, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, seeking return of the electronic devices, documents, records, books, etc., seized from the Petitioner vide seizure dated 1st July, 2025.
4. The copy of the panchnama dated 1st July, 2025 drawn at the office premises of Mr. Sandeep Singhal, at PD-99A, Ground Floor, Pitampura, Delhi- 110034 (hereinafter, ‘panchnama’), would show that the seized goods are as follows: “
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ “ │ │ Sl. No. Description No. Page Nos │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 1 2 3 4 │ │ 1. I-Phone15 (Model No. MTP03HN/A) 1 │ │ (Serial No. HK99F4X4XQ) (IMEI 1: │ │ 358388750533018, IMEI │ │ 2:358388750408087) │ │ 2. Pen drives (Geonix-1, Sandisk-2, HP 5 │ │ 32GB- 1, Kingston 16-1) │ │ 3. Samsung Galaxy Z-Fold 6 (Model │ │ Name-SM-F956B/DS) (Serial No. │ │ RFCX70SPKWH) (IMEI 1: │ │ 352898271056765, IMEI 2: │ │ 353203241055764) │ │ 4. Hard Disk Drive- WD Elements (S. No. 1 │ │ WXPZAB22RLXL) │ │ 5. HP Pavilion Laptop 13" (Silver Gray 1 │ │ Colour) Device ID-DG5514D3-64EB- │ │ 425A-9E32-IDFC27BB7BB9 │ │ 6. Vivo 1718 (IMEI 1: 866945037007738, 1 │ │ IMEI 2: 866945037007720) │ │ 7. Zebronics Bing CPU 1 │ │ 8. 113 Stamps/ seals of firms/ company as 113 1 to 5 │ │ individually stamped on 5 no. of pages │ │ 9. Neelgagan Note Pads 7 i. 10 filled pages │ │ ii . 52 filled pages │ │ iii. 09 filled pages │ │ iv. 48 filled pages │ │ v. 39 filled pages │ │ vi. 11 filled pages │ │ vii. 15 filled pages │ │ 10. A green notebook 1 24 filled pages │ │ 11. Loose papers 15 pages │ │ ” │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
12. At this stage, it is submitted on behalf of the GST Department that Section 67(5) of the CGST Act has a caveat that such entitlement shall not extend to circumstances where providing copies would be prejudicial to the investigation.
13. A perusal of Section 67(5) of the CGST Act clearly shows that copies of the seized data cannot be denied to the Petitioner. However, such copies can be made in the presence of an Authorised Officer, unless it is recorded in writing, that providing copies would be prejudicial to the investigation.
14. The panchnama in this case records as under: “The afore-detailed 11 electronic devices were put up before us which were found to be packed in envelopes, which were opened before us in the presence of advocate Sh. Kushagra Verma and Sh. Santosh Kumar. Forensic Expert from M/s Omnicomp, New Delhi, hired by the DGGI officials. Thereafter, the devices were opened and the contained data in the above listed devices was retrieved and downloaded from the aforesaid devices in Hard Drives with master Copy S.No. WX42AC4RTNPK and Working Copy S.No.- WX42AC4RTER[9], which was found to be concerned for the ongoing investigation. The printout of cloning & data extraction report for the devices was taken out and each page was duly signed by Sh. Santosh Kumar, Forensic Expert, advocate Sh. Kushagra Verma and we had signed on each page of the report along with the master Copy which was sealed in front of us.”
15. Thus, it is evident from the foregoing that the GST Department has downloaded the data and cloning has also been completed, although some part of it may still be outstanding.
16. Be that as it may, in order to resolve this issue, it is directed that Mr. Sandeep Singhal, the proprietor of the Petitioner, shall appear in person before the GST Department and in the presence of an Authorised Officer, copies of the entire set of documents and data shall be provided to him.
17. Needless to add, the Petitioner would be duty bound to cooperate in the investigation.
18. Accordingly, the present petition is disposed of in the above terms. All pending applications, if any, are also disposed of.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUDGE SHAIL JAIN JUDGE OCTOBER 6, 2025 dj/sm