Punjab-Haryana High Court
Mr. Akshay And Anr vs State Of Haryana on 24 January, 2019
Author: Arvind Singh Sangwan
Bench: Arvind Singh Sangwan
CRM-M No.55904 of 2018 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
CRM-M No.55904 of 2018
Reserved on: 23.01.2019
Date of decision: 24.01.2019
Akshay and another
....Petitioners
Versus
State of Haryana
....Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN Present: Mr. Keshav Pratap Singh, Advocate for the petitioners.
Mr. Naveen Sheoran, DAG, Haryana.
Mr. Shashank Sharma, Advocate and Mr. Saurabh Gautam, Advocate for the complainant.
ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN J.
Prayer in this petition filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (in short 'Cr.P.C.') is for grant of regular bail to the petitioners in FIR No.516 dated 28.11.2018 registered under Sections 415, 416, 419, 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short 'IPC') and 43/66-D/75 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, at Police Station Sector 17/18 Gurugram, District Gurugram.
Counsel for the petitioners has submitted that as per the allegations in the FIR, which is registered on behalf of the Microsoft Corporation (India) Limited, it is stated that the complainant is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation located at United States of America and is a developer, manufacturer and licence-holder for the 1 of 5 ::: Downloaded on - 11-02-2019 06:28:08 ::: CRM-M No.55904 of 2018 2 sale and support services of the computers and the softwares including various electronics and the operating system "Microsoft Windows"
and other allied products. It is further stated in the FIR that the complainant has received numerous complaints from its customers all over the world against the accused persons, who are operating from Gurugram and are indulged in fraudulent activities, thereby, misrepresenting themselves to be associated with the complainant and are extorting money for providing technical support. On verification, the complainant found that the accused persons are fraudulently transmitting false pop-up/fake error message into the computer systems of the users stating that their computer system are infected with malware/viruses, which pose a security risk to their personal data and if the same is not rectified, the data can be damaged or hacked and it may lead to personal and financial loss to the users. It is further stated that the pop-up message would displayed on the full screen and do not go away as it locked the screen of computer users completely and a helpline number is displayed. When the users, out of panic, dialed the helpline number provided in the pop-up messages, the accused persons induced them to part away money by making them to believe that they are associated with the complainant - Microsoft Corporation and thereafter, when the amount was transferred, the pop-up message would go away. It is further stated that by inducing/coercing the users for paying for such bogus services, the accused persons have extorted huge amount of money from the public at large, around the globe and they are also committing theft of the data and identity of their user and are transmitting the computer contaminants or viruses by causing damage
2 of 5 ::: Downloaded on - 11-02-2019 06:28:08 ::: CRM-M No.55904 of 2018 3 to victims/user's, internet enabled devices. It is further stated that the modus operandi of the accused persons is that they are targeting the users based in United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada by deceiving them that they are associate of the complainant - Microsoft Corporation.
Counsel for the petitioner has argued that the petitioners' company i.e. Retnec Solutions Private Limited, is a registered company and they have not committed any fraud. It is further submitted that the petitioners are in custody since 28.11.2018 and are no more required for further investigation and in fact, in 02 similar FIRs, they have been granted regular bail by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gurugram. It is also submitted that 02 of the nominated accused persons namely Dhruv Pratap Singh and Prashant Tomar were found to be innocent during the investigation. It is also submitted that since the offences are triable by the Court of Magistrate, thus, it will take some time in conclusion of the trial, further custodial interrogation of the petitioners is not required.
Reply by way of affidavit of the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Crime, Gurugram, on behalf of the respondent is filed in the Court and is taken on record wherein, the version given in the FIR is reiterated.
Counsel for the State has submitted that during the investigation, the petitioners were arrested and their disclosure statements were recorded and they got recovered DOTOSP Licences, MOA Licence and also got identified 18 CPUs stationed at the place of occurrence from where they deceived people and received money. It is 3 of 5 ::: Downloaded on - 11-02-2019 06:28:08 ::: CRM-M No.55904 of 2018 4 also submitted that the hard disk of 18 CPUs is taken by the Investigating Officer vide recovery memo and 35 screenshots were also taken from the same, which shows the modus operandi of the accused persons. It is also stated that 18 hard disks were sent to CFSL, Chandigarh for retrieving the data and the report is pending as the CFSL, Chandigarh has shown its inability due to heavy pendency/top priority cases, thereafter, another agency is requested for retrieving the data of the hard disks and the case is at the stage of investigation. It is further argued that the accused persons by using the computer technology, have defrauded large number of persons/users across the globe and thus, they are not entitled for bail.
Counsel for the complainant has placed on record a sheet showing some of the complaints received by the complainant - Microsoft Corporation, in which the manner by which the accused persons have deceived and cheated them is given. This document also reflect the amount paid by the users to APPLOFT, which is stated to be a company of the accused persons.
After hearing the counsel for the parties, I find no ground to grant regular bail to the petitioners. The case is still at the stage of investigation and the report from the CFSL or the Technical Laboratory is yet to be received. There are direct allegations against the petitioners that they have cheated large number of persons globally and have extorted huge amount of money in the name of providing fraudulent services and the mere fact that the petitioners are in custody since 28.11.2018 or the offences are triable by the Court of Magistrate in the present case, is not a ground to grant bail the petitioners as they are 4 of 5 ::: Downloaded on - 11-02-2019 06:28:08 ::: CRM-M No.55904 of 2018 5 involved in 06 more FIR despite the fact that they are granted bail in 02 FIRs.
Accordingly, no ground for grant of bail to the petitioners is made out.
Dismissed.
(ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN)
JUDGE
24.01.2019
yakub
Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No
Whether reportable Yes/No
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