Filmmaker Vijay Gutte gets bail in Rs 34 crore GST fraud case

Filmmaker Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, arrested for alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud of over Rs 34 crore, was granted bail today by a metropolitan magistrate court here, a senior GST department official said.

Gutte, director of the upcoming Hindi film "The Accidental Prime Minister", was granted bail by the court after he agreed to pay the default amount in parts till February, the official said.

He was arrested by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) on August 2 under section 132 (1)(c) of the CGST Act, which pertains to 'wrongful availment' of input tax credit (ITC) using bills and invoices that have been issued without any supply of goods or services.

Gutte's firm, VRG Digital Corp Pvt Ltd, allegedly procured 149 fake invoices involving GST of Rs 34.37 crore for animation and manpower services received from another company, Horizon Outsource Solutions Pvt Ltd, the GST department had earlier said.

In May this year, the DGGSTI had arrested the director of Horizon Outsource Solutions in a separate case of alleged GST fraud.

The DGGSTI's probe into the case revealed that Gutte's firm was one of the top clients of Horizon Outsource and was shown as receiving services of about Rs 266 crore with a GST implication of Rs 34.37 crore, even as there was no actual supply of services, the department had said.

According to the rules, in cases where the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised, or the amount of refund wrongly taken exceeds Rs 5 crore, the accused is liable to be fined and imprisoned for up to five years.

The DGGSTI had said Gutte not only availed non- existent ITC, but also fraudulently claimed refund of the ITC from the GST department on the basis of fake invoices. By doing so, Gutte and his firm caused loss to the state exchequer.

Gutte has so far produced three films - "Emotional Attyachar", "Time Bara Vait" and "Badmashiyaan".

Gutte's directorial debut, "The Accidental Prime Minister", is slated to hit cinema houses on December 21.

The film, based on a book of the same name about former prime minister Manmohan Singh, features veteran actor Anupam Kher in the lead role.