SC Upholds Power of Arrest by GST, Customs Officers

Says their authority to arrest is ancillary to their power to collect goods and services tax

- DIPAK MONDAL @New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of the arrest provisions under the Goods and Services Tax Act and the Customs Act.

Rejecting a batch of pleas challenging these provisions, a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Bela M Trivedi, and Justice M M Sundresh upheld the legislative amendments that classify specific economic offenses as cognizable and non-bailable.