CBI arrested senior IRS officer Vinay Kumar Kanheti and two others after allegedly catching a private individual accepting ₹40 lakh as bribe.
Thane court, however, declared the arrests illegal, rejected the CBI’s custody plea and ordered all three accused to be released.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Vinay Kumar Kanheti (IRS-2009), serving as Additional Commissioner of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, CGST Superintendent Rakesh Kumar Sinha and private individual Narinder Rajput in an alleged ₹40 lakh bribery case.
However, the Thane Special Court quickly intervened. The court stated that the arrests were illegal, rejected the CBI's remand application and ordered the immediate release of the three accused on personal bonds.
₹40 Lakh Bribery Trap
The CBI registered the corruption case on August 26 against Sinha. Investigators alleged he initially demanded an undue advantage of ₹1.50 crore to settle a GST and royalty matter for a stone-quarrying firm.
Following negotiations, the accused reduced the demand to ₹40 lakh. The officials directed the complainant to hand the money to Rajput for collection.
The CBI subsequently laid a trap. Investigators caught Rajput red-handed while he was accepting the ₹40 lakh. Sinha and Kanheti later acknowledged the acceptance of this bribe amount.
Following the arrests, the agency conducted searches at the premises of the accused. Officials recovered ₹43 lakh in cash and jewellery worth approximately ₹90 lakh.
Court Rules Arrests Illegal
The Special Court at Thane rejected the CBI's request for five-day police custody. The judge ruled the arrests of all three men illegal due to procedural violations.
During the remand hearing, the defence cited Supreme Court precedents in Vihaan Kumar v. State of Haryana & Anr. and Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra & Anr. regarding strict arrest protocols. These rulings mandate clear communication of arrest grounds.
Upon examining the arrest memos and case diaries, the court stated that the records failed to prove the accused understood the grounds for their detention. Furthermore, investigators did not notify the relatives of the accused in writing.
The court ordered their release on personal recognisance (PR) bonds of ₹15,000 each, with sureties of a like amount. The judge said that the alleged bribe money and mobile phones were already seized, eliminating the need for further custodial interrogation. The court directed the accused to cooperate fully with the ongoing probe.
