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Section132
The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

Punishment for certain offences

In force Act 12 of 2017 As on 14 Oct 2026

Act 12 of 2017 Ministry Finance Enacted 12 Apr 2017 Cited by 6 provisions

Commencement. 22nd June, 2017 for sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 139, 146 and 164 1st July, 2017 for sections 6 to 9, 11 to 21, 31 to 41, 42 (except proviso to sub-section (9) of S 42), 43 (except proviso to subsection (9) of S 43), 44 to 50, 53 to 138, 140 to 163, 165 to 174.

Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 deals with punishment for certain offences. [Whoever commits, or causes to commit and retain the benefits arising out of, any of the following offences], namely:--- (a) supplies any goods or services or both without issue of any invoice, in violation of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, with the intention to evade tax; The Act was enacted on 12 Apr 2017.

(1) 1[Whoever commits, or causes to commit and retain the benefits arising out of, any of the following offences], namely:---

(a) supplies any goods or services or both without issue of any invoice, in violation of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, with the intention to evade tax;

(b) issues any invoice or bill without supply of goods or services or both in violation of the provisions of this Act, or the rules made thereunder leading to wrongful availment or utilisation of input tax credit or refund of tax;

2[(c) avails input tax credit using the invoice or bill referred to in clause (b) or fraudulently avails input tax credit without any invoice or bill;]

(d) collects any amount as tax but fails to pay the same to the Government beyond a period of three months from the date on which such payment becomes due;

(e) evades tax 3*** or fraudulently obtains refund and where such offence is not covered under clauses (a) to (d);

(f) falsifies or substitutes financial records or produces fake accounts or documents or furnishes any false information with an intention to evade payment of tax due under this Act;

4* * * * *

(h) acquires possession of, or in any way concerns himself in transporting, removing, depositing, keeping, concealing, supplying, or purchasing or in any other manner deals with, any goods which he knows or has reasons to believe are liable to confiscation under this Act or the rules made thereunder;

(i) receives or is in any way concerned with the supply of, or in any other manner deals with any supply of services which he knows or has reasons to believe are in contravention of any provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;

4* * * * *

4* * * * *

(l) attempts to commit, or abets the commission of any of the offences mentioned in 5[clauses (a) to (f) and clauses (h) and (i)] of this section,

shall be punishable---

(i) 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 five hundred lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine;

(ii) 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 two hundred lakh rupees but does not exceed five hundred lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine;

(iii) in the case of 6[an offence specified in clause (b),] 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 one hundred lakh rupees but does not exceed two hundred lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine;

(iv) in cases where he commits or abets the commission of an offence specified in clause (f) 7***, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine or with both.

(2) Where any person convicted of an offence under this section is again convicted of an offence under this section, then, he shall be punishable for the second and for every subsequent offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine.

(3) The imprisonment referred to in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of sub-section (1) and sub-section (2) shall, in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be recorded in the judgment of the Court, be for a term not less than six months.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), all offences under this Act, except the offences referred to in sub-section (5) shall be non-cognizable and bailable.

(5) The offences specified in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) of sub-section (1) and punishable under clause (i) of that sub-section shall be cognizable and non-bailable.

(6) A person shall not be prosecuted for any offence under this section except with the previous sanction of the Commissioner.

Explanation.--- For the purposes of this section, the term "tax" shall include the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or refund wrongly taken under the provisions of this Act, the State Goods and Services Tax Act, the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act and cess levied under the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act.

Section 132, The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Act 12 of 2017).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

Referred to by 6

  1. s. 69 Power to arrest
  2. s. 74 Determination of tax, pertaining to the period up to Financial Year 2023-24, not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised by reason of fraud or any wilful-misstatement or suppression of facts
  3. s. 74A Determination of tax not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised for any reason pertaining to Financial Year 2024-25 onward
  4. s. 138 Compounding of offences
  5. Finance Act s. 127 Amendment of Section 132
  6. Finance Act s. 156 Amendment of section 132

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. Ankur Garg v. Union of India

    High Court 15 Jul 2025 Persuasive (High Court DB) Reportable CWP-7147 of 2021 (O&M) & batch; Judgment 15.07.2025 (Lisa Gill & Lapita Banerji JJ., P&H HC)

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    DATE VERIFIED Final Order 15.07.2025 (order-1.pdf): Vires challenge to CGST s.132 prosecution scheme rejected following Radhika Agarwal — penalty/prosecution mechanism for GST evasion is within Art.246A; monetary thresholds making offences cognizable/non-bailable under s.132(1)(i)/(5) must be supported by relevant material in the arrest authorisation.

    On this section: s.132 criminal offences/punishments for GST evasion upheld; arrest linkage to s.132(5) non-bailable offences requires material-backed computation of tax involved.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

  2. Gagandeep Singh v. State of Himachal Pradesh

    High Court 23 Jun 2025 Persuasive (High Court) Reportable Cr. MMO No. 338 of 2024; Judgment 23.06.2025 (Rakesh Kainthla J., HP HC)

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    DATE VERIFIED Final Order 23.06.2025 (order-10.pdf): Prosecution for fraudulent ITC under s.132 via private complaint before Magistrate; because s.132 imprisonment may extend to five years, trial is as warrant case under CrPC Ch.XIX-B (s.244 pre-charge evidence) — Magistrate correctly ordered prosecution evidence; quash refused.

    On this section: s.132 offences tried as warrant cases (imprisonment >2 years); pre-charge evidence under s.244 CrPC proper for GST private complaint.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

  3. SANJEEV SHARMA vs COMMISSIONER CGST GURUGRAM

    District and Sessions Courts, Gurugram 31 Mar 2023 Persuasive (Other HC/Districts)

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    In complex economic syndicates, a proprietor of a firm involved in tax fraud cannot claim parity for bail with professional service providers like Chartered Accountants, as the proprietor is the direct beneficiary of the alleged illegal transactions.

    On this section: Applied to evaluate the gravity of the offense involving fraudulent ITC and refund claims.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Judgments citing this section

These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.

  1. High Court 26 Nov 2021 DLHC010322772021

    … As per sub-section (5), the offences specified in clause (a) or (b) or (c) or (d) of sub-section (1) and punishable under clause (i) of that section are cognizable and nonbailable. 32. Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 ("CGST Act") lists a total of twelve offences that are punishable by imprisonment and/or a fine. The term of imprisonment and the amount of fine, is dependent on the amount involved in the offence, or in some cases, the act committed …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

Questions about Section 132

What have the courts held on Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act?

Ankur Garg v. Union of India (15 Jul 2025) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: s.132 criminal offences/punishments for GST evasion upheld; arrest linkage to s.132(5) non-bailable offences requires material-backed computation of tax involved. Another 2 judgments on this section are set out below. They run from 2023 to 2025.

How do I find court cases under Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: CGST Act 132, section 132 CGST Act, section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 3 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Ankur Garg v. Union of India (15 Jul 2025).

What should I read with Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, and has it changed?

6 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.

When was Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act enacted?

Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, cited as CGST Act 132, was enacted on 12 Apr 2017 as Act 12 of 2017. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.