Krishnananda N vs State Of Odisha(Opid) .... Opposite ... on 12 October, 2023

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Orissa High Court

Krishnananda N vs State Of Odisha(Opid) .... Opposite ... on 12 October, 2023

04. 1. Since both the matters arise out of EOW CID Crime Branch, Odisha, Bhubaneswar Police Station Case No.10 of 2023, they are taken up together of by this common order on the consent of the parties.

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2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned counsel for the State.

3. The petitioners are accused in connection with C.T. Case No.03 of 2023, pending in the Court of learned Designated Court (under OPID Act), Cuttack, arising out of EOW CID Crime Branch, Odisha, Bhubaneswar Police Station Case No.10 of 2023, for commission of alleged offences under Section 420/467/468/471/120-(B) of IPC, R/w Sec.4,5 and 6 of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act, further r/w Section-6 of the OPID Act,2011 and further r/w Sec.66-C/66-D of the IT Act.

4. Being aggrieved by the rejection of their application for bail U/s.439 Cr.P.C. by the learned PO DC OPID Act, Cuttack by order dated 11.07.2023 in the aforementioned case, the present BLAPL has been filed.

5. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the Petitioner in BLAPL No.8067 of 2023(Krishnananda N) is in custody since 07.07.2023 and the Petitioner in BLAPL No.9027 of 2023(Vishal Sakharam Utkar) is in custody since 29.03.2023 and the allegation against the Petitioners is that through a whatsapp group "GETSO Million Group 181" of which one Oliva James-co accused was admin, they duped investors to trade in cryptocurrency and the financial implications of the same has been stated in Paragraph 18.9 and 18.10 of the charge sheet is on record.

5A. The financial implications as stated would be adverted to in the later part of this order.

6. It is submitted by learned counsel for the Petitioner in BLAPL No.8067 of 2023 relying on the statement of CSW-2 (Akshay Kumar Nayak) that amount of Rs.42,509/- has been transferred to the account of the said Petitioner(Krishnananda N.) and so far as the Petitioner in BLAPL No.9027 of 2023(Vishal Sakharam Utkar) is concerned relying on the statement of CSW-1 Dibyajyoti Kar the amount of Rs.22,717/- is stated to have been transferred to the account of the said co-accused-petitioner.

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6A. The same has been reflected in Paragraph 18.4 of the charge sheet which is extracted hereunder.

xxx xxx xxx "(18.4. During investigation it also came to light that the money of Rs 22,717/- of the investor/informant Dibyajyoti Kar has been transferred to the A/c No. 50200066574422 of HDFC bank which maintained in the name of accused Vishal Sakharam Utakar. Similarly the Rs 42,509/- of Akshaya Kumar Nayak has been transferred to the A/c No. 50200059024962 maintained in the name of one Krishnananda N. The certified copy of the statements of Bank accounts of the above noted accounts have been collected from the concerned bank. It is further ascertained from the scrutiny of the statement of accounts of the above noted person that Crores of rupees have been transacted to the said accounts from the investors.)"

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7. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that because of the very nature of trading in cryptocurrency, they were required to undertake multiple transactions on a regular basis for which the amounts are reflected in the charge sheet at paragraph-18.9 and 18.10.

8. It is submitted by the learned counsel with vehemence that since both the Petitioners are the first offenders, they may be released on bail.

9. Learned counsel for the OPID referring to the recitals of the charge sheet and more particularly paragraphs-18.9 and 18.10 thereof and the statements of CSW-1 and CSW-2 submits that since it is an economic offence and keeping in view the nature of allegations Petitioners are ought not to be released merely because charge sheet has been filed and they are the first offenders. Since it would derail the ongoing investigation.

10. It is further submitted that since the Petitioners admittedly do not reside in the territorial jurisdiction of the Court in seisin their release would affect the ongoing trial. He relies on the Judgment of Satender Kumar Antil vrs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Another, reported in 2022 (10) SCC 51 to state that the Apex Court while laying down the guidelines in the matter of consideration of bail had consciously kept economic offences on a different plane. Therefore, seeks dismissal of the bail application.

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10A. Paragraphs 18.9 and 18.10 are extracted hereunder.

Xxx xxx xxx " 18.9. During investigation and on scrutiny of statement of many such accounts, if is found that many transactions have been made after receiving the amount from investors through "Binance'. Hence it is evident that after collecting money from the investors, the fraudsters in connivance with the account holders including the accused persons Vishal Sakharam Utkar and Krishnanda N has transferred / diverted the said money to different accounts with ill intention to cheat the innocent investors/public of Bhubaneswar, Odisha and other States of India. During investigation, it came to light that accused Vishal Sakharam Utkar, Krishnanda N and their associates have cheated investors in Odisha and all over India to the tune of Crores during the year 2022 on the pretext of investment in Trading through online mode and false assurance of return of their invested money on daily basis.

18.10. Investigation further revealed that more than 9 crores of rupees have been transacted by accused Vishal Sakharam Utakar and around 26 Crores by Krishnanda N in conspiracy with others from the gullible investors throughout India. Thus, the fraudsters by creating forged app in the name and style as "GETSO" have dishonestly deceived and induced the innocent investors to invest money on false assurance of high and hefty returns. Subsequently, "GETSO" being operated by Olivia James has failed to return the assured amount/service and have misappropriated the same. Further, they have closed the fake App and have stopped responding to the repeated request/ queries of the investors and have cheated them to the tune of Crores."

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11. Taking into account the nature of allegations and since the Petitioners are the first offenders as stated and the financial implication qua the Petitioners as reflected in the charge sheet, this Court directs the Petitioners to be released on bail on such terms to be fixed by the learned Court in seisin over the matter.

12. Before releasing the Petitioners on bail, the learned Court in seisin shall verify the criminal antecedent of the Petitioners from the State of Odisha as well as from the parent police station i.e. from P.S.-Kushalngar, Dist. Kodagu, State-Karnataka, Pin-571234 and AT-Ganesh Nagar, Yenki Manki Road, Udgir, District-Latur, Maharashtra respectively. If it comes to fore that the Petitioners have any criminal antecedent, this order shall stand recalled.

13. Additionally, it is directed that the Petitioners shall appear before the jurisdictional police station once every month till the conclusion of the trial and shall not leave the country without the express permission of the learned Court in seisin and they shall Page 4 of 5 surrender their passport, if any before release and in the event they do not have passport they will file an affidavit to the said effect. It is needless to state that they shall appear on each date of trial.

14. Accordingly, the BLAPL stands disposed of.

15. Urgent certified copy of this order be granted as per rules.

(V. NARASINGH) Judge Soumya Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: SOUMYA RANJAN SAMAL Designation: Jr. Stenographer Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 13-Oct-2023 20:37:17 Page 5 of 5

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