Observing that authorities under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime cannot invoke provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for offenses that are explicitly covered under the GST Act, the Madhya Pradesh High Court Wednesday said this because a petition arose due to a challenge by this judgment where IPC sections were invoked in addition to the GST law for alleged tax-related offenses.Additional charges have been framed against the petitioner businessman, accused of tax evasion under the GST Act, based on various sections of the IPC for cheating and criminal conspiracy. It is argued before us by the authorities that the acts of the said accused are offences outside the purview of the GST Act and, therefore, are also punishable under the IPC. On this point, the Madhya Pradesh High Court held that as the GST Act is an all-inclusive law specially framed for regulating the taxation system for goods and services in India, a scheme for prosecution, penalties, and other legal consequences for violating provisions of tax evasion or fraud or even otherwise was incorporated by enacting such provisions and including them in the said act. The court observed that the GST Act itself has in-built safeguards and penalties for all kinds of tax-related misconduct ranging from not paying the taxes to fraudulent returns and false claims of input tax credit. The court noted that since the GST Act itself provides specific remedies and penalties for tax-related offences. In the case of Mik Waters, the High Court of Judicature at Bombay held that provisions from the IPC are not to be brought into play where offences fall squarely within the ambit of the GST law. It further mentioned that the GST Act had sufficient provisions for dealing with serious contraventions, which also included the possibility of imprisonment in case of fraud and filing of false information. The High Court also rejected the plea of criminal conspiracy or cheating under the IPC as the very specific provisions available under the GST Act were sufficient to handle matters. It further clarified that if an offence deals with only tax evasion or connected activities under the GST regime, it should be dealt with exclusively under the GST Act. Ordered to quash the charges brought under the IPC and further instructions to proceed only under the relevant provisions of the GST Act.