New Delhi, Feb. 27 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday held that arbitrary arrests and coercion by tax authorities violate constitutional rights, and directed that enforcement actions by the officials should remain within the bounds of the law.
While delivering a landmark judgment clarifying the powers of arrest under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act and the Customs Act, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Justice MM Sundresh, and Justice Bela M Trivedi ruled that officers under these tax laws do not hold the status of police officers, rejecting the argument that they should be treated as such.
The bench held that procedural safeguards under the Code of Criminal Procedure (now Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhit...