New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- The Delhi High Court has stepped in to protect a businessman who fell victim to identity theft and was wrongly saddled with a tax demand of nearly Rs.79 crore.

The case underscores the risks of systemic loopholes in digital governance and highlights the need for stronger safeguards in GST migration procedures.

The petition was filed by Aakash Gupta, sole proprietor of M/s Amit Aakash Enterprises, which was initially registered under the Delhi VAT regime in 2015.

Gupta discontinued his business in 2017, formally applied for the cancellation of his VAT registration, and closed his bank account in August of that year.

However, three years later, in 2020, officials from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DG...