Kanpur businessman Piyush Jain on Thursday was granted bail in gold smuggling case by High Court. Jain was arrested in December after raids at his residence in Kanpur and residence and factory in Kannauj by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) led to the recovery of about Rs 257 crore in cash, 25 kg of gold and 250 kg of silver. The Finance Ministry on Monday had said it was the "biggest ever seizure of cash" by an enforcement agency.
DGGI had accused Piyush Jain of tax evasion of ₹31.5 crores. After the recovery of gold with foreign markings, it also filed a case against Jain. A few days ago, the Allahabad High Court granted conditional bail to Jain on charges of smuggling gold. Around 32 gold rods, weighing 23kg, made of 24-carat gold, with foreign markings were recovered from Jain’s factory. The price of these rods was estimated to be ₹196.57 crores. Jain allegedly could not produce any receipt for the gold recovered from him. After investigation, a complaint was filed in the court of special CJM Kanpur city.
Jain who may be released on Saturday after getting bail has submitted a surety amount of Rs 10 lakh.
