CHANDIGARH, Sept. 9 -- Punjab finance and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday disclosed the unearthing of a massive Rs.22 crore Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion racket. He announced that the state taxation department's intelligence-led operation against a Mandi Gobindgarh-based firm has already resulted in a staggering on-the-spot cash recovery of Rs.9.5 crore. Cheema said, "The department has initiated strict proceedings against Jagat Metals. Through data analysis, our taxation officials discovered that this company had wrongfully claimed input tax credit (ITC) amounting to approximately Rs.22.5 crore. We found that these massive claims were directly linked to suppliers whose GST registrations had already been cancelled suo moto by the concerned authorities." The department conducted an inspection at the firm's premises in Mandi Gobindgarh on September 7. This resulted in the on-the-spot deposition of Rs.9.5 crore as State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) by the firm, the minister said....