Punjab-Haryana High Court
Vijay Singh vs State Of Haryana on 23 July, 2024
Author: Anoop Chitkara
Bench: Anoop Chitkara
Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:092852
CRM-M-31156-2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
CRM-M-31156-2024
Reserved on: 15.07.2024
Pronounced on: 23.07.2024
Vijay Singh ...Pe oner
Versus
State of Haryana ...Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA
Present: Mr. R.S. Mamli, Advocate,
for the pe oner.
Mr. Rajat Gautam, Addl. A.G., Haryana.
****
ANOOP CHITKARA, J.
FIR No. Dated Police Sta1on Sec1ons 12 19.05.2024 Cyber Crime, District Charkhi Dadri 120-B and 420 IPC
1. The pe oner apprehending arrest in the FIR cap oned above has come up before this Court under Sec on 438 CrPC seeking an cipatory bail.
2. In paragraph 9 of the bail pe on, the accused declares that he has no criminal antecedents.
3. The prosecu on's case is being taken from the reply dated 09.07.2024 filed by the concerned Deputy Superintendent of Police, which reads as follows:
"2. That facts in the present ma er in succinct are that a case FIR No.12 dated 19.05.2024 under sec ons 420, 120B IPC Police Sta on Cyber Crime, Charkhi Dadri was registered on the wri en complaint submi ed by Abhishek son of Rakesh, resident of village Jewali, District Charkhi Dadri sta ng therein that he is working as labourer. Last year, in the month of September 2023, Ashin son of Amir Khan, resident of village Bhandwa, District Charkhi Dadri had approached him to get him personal loan. He had assured to get the loan sanc oned. A3er 2/3 days, he got a telephonic call from Ashin to come at the house of Vikram son of Puran resident of village Lad along with Adhar Card, Pan Card and cheque book of his Indusind Bank account. Upon this he reached at the house of Vikram where Ashin got his signatures on some 1 1 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 26-07-2024 06:15:54 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:092852 CRM-M-31156-2024 papers and Vikram took his photo from his phone and photocopies of Aadhar-Card and Pan-Card along with his signatures. One cheque was also taken from his cheque book. Ashin told that he is deposi ng some rupees in his Indusind bank account, which will automa cally be withdrawn/ deducted. Therea3er, he returned to his house and Ashin telephonically called him to come at Badhra. When he reached at Badhra, Ashin along with Naveen, resident of village Bhandwa, met him there. They both brought him to Badhra Court and obtained his signatures on some documents on the pretext of ge<ng the loan sanc oned. They then took him to Grain Market Badhra and obtained his signatures on 3-4 papers and also took OTP number as come on his mobile phone No.xxxx8531. Few days therea3er, Ashin again telephonically called him to come at Badhra. When he reached at Badhra, Ashin and Naveen met him in a car wherein one bank employee, namely, Jitender, was also si<ng. They took him in the car to bus stand of village Lad and where they took his photos and got his signatures on some documents and noted the OTP came on his mobile phone. A3er some more days, Ashin telephonically called him to give a call to Naveen. Upon calling Naveen, he asked the complainant to come at Badhra. When he reached at Badhra, Naveen took him to HDFC Bank Badhra. His signatures were obtained on some papers in the Bank and Ashin telephonically assured him that his loan would be sanc oned. Therea3er, in the month February 2024, Naveen telephonically called him to come to his house. When he reached there, Naveen and bank employee Jitender were present there, who got photos of his Aadhar- Card, Pan-Card and got his signatures on some papers. A few days later, Ashin telephonically called again to reach at IDFC Bank, Charkhi Dadri. A3er reaching Dadri Ashin gave him telephone number of Bank employee Jitender and ask to call him. When the complainant called Jitender, he came outside the Bank and took him inside Bank premises and got his signatures on some papers and one cheque. A3er a few days, he received cheque book and ATM Card of IDFC Bank Account No.xxxx4210 at his home. Therea3er, in the month of April 2024, he visited HDFC Bank Badhra open Bank account there, the bank employee present there told that he is already having account No.xxxx4220 and that lot of money has been transacted in said account and that since fraud amount had come in said account, said bank-account has been frozen. Upon this he telephonically called Ashin, who asked to come on 2 2 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 26-07-2024 06:15:55 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:092852 CRM-M-31156-2024 canal of village Lad. When he reached there, Ashin, Naveen and Vikram met him. Upon enquiring from Ashin how the bank account has been opened with HDFC Bank Badhra, he answered that he got said account opened for execu ng duplicate/fraud transac ons. He assured to give some amount and asked not to disclose it to anyone. He then came to know that above men oned Ashin, Naveen, Vikram and bank employee Jitender have conspired to make illegal transac ons through bank accounts got opened by them in his name and they have thus commi ed chea ng. Upon this instant case FIR was registered and inves ga on commenced."
4. Counsel for the pe oner argued that the allega ons had been leveled that Ashin Khan had come to him because he wanted to take the loan, and he obtained his signatures. Subsequently, the account was opened, and that has been used for the transac on, whereas the complainant himself is an accused, and he has used his account, and it was within his knowledge that he was receiving the amount in the account.
5. Counsel submi<ed that the pe oner is not concerned with the alleged offense; he is not named in the FIR. The pe oner is not even known to the complainant, Abhishek. There are neither any calls by the pe oner to the complainant nor by the complainant to the pe oner, neither a chat nor a phone call by the pe oner to the complainant or vice versa. The pe oner has not received any amount from the complainant's account. There is no transac on between the complainant and the present pe oner. The pe oner is neither the developer nor the admin of the alleged Applica on (App); rather, the person who had developed the App had given someone's name. The pe oner is not involved in this offense at all. There is no transac on by the pe oner with the complainant or from the complainant's account. The allega ons in the en re episode are that Ashin Khan opened the account. Vikram is alleged to have given his place in opera ng the company. Jitender accused is stated to be a bank employee. The pe oner has no role in the en re episode. None of the accused has specifically named the role of the pe oner. The en re transac on is made through some game app. The pe oner has no role in that APP. The pe oner has not cheated anyone, nor has the account been received from the complainant account or anyone else. The pe oner's mobile phone has also not been used anywhere for any kind of transac on.
6. Counsel for the State opposes the bail and has drawn the a<en on of this Court to paragraphs 3 to 7 of the reply dated 09.07.2024, which reads as follows:
33 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 26-07-2024 06:15:55 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:092852 CRM-M-31156-2024 (3). That during the course of inves ga on conducted by ASI Sanjeet Kumar PS Cyber Crime, Charkhi Dadri bank account details of the complainant were obtained from HDFC and IDFC Bank. From perusal of bank account record it has been found that Bank account No. xxxxxxx220 was in the name of Abhishek Digital Services and an amount of Rs.27.61 crores was found to be credited in the said account and the en re amount was found to be debited to another account on daily basis.
(4). That during inves ga on Naveen son of Balwan resident of village Bhandwa District Charkhi Dadri was joined in inves ga on and arrested in the case on 19.05.2024 and a mobile phone was recovered from him. During interroga on above accused confessed his crime and stated that accused Ashin of his village and Vikram resident of Laad persuaded him to open his bank account and also of thers needy persons to sold these accounts to them and they will use these accounts for online gaming money transfer purpose. Thus, he opened his account in HDFC Bank and handed over the transac ons detail to Ashin and Vikram, who made a transac ons of Rs.1.5 crores in his account. The accused further confessed that he persuaded Abhishek to open his accounts on different banks on the pretext of ge<ng loan and handed over the ownership of these accounts to Ashin and Vikram by adop ng fraudulent means and these accounts were used in transfer of illegal money. From the confessional statement of accused, cheque book, pass book of the complainants HDFC Bank were recovered along with sim-card.
(5). That during inves ga on, raids were conducted on the hide outs of accused Ashin and from his office at Gurugram another accused Ashwini son of Bhupender resident of Jagram Bass (who use to work for accused Ashin, Vikram, present pe oner and others) was arrested in the case on 23.05.2024 and confessed his involvement in crime and named the accused/pe oner Vijay Singh as one of the master mind of the above men oned fraud sta ng that pe oner Vijay Singh operates an account Vijay OTP Group on Telegram App, which he use to circulate OTP of transac ons to other co-accused. Screen shots of Vijay OTP Group operated by the pe oner were recovered from the mobile phone of accused Ashwini and the same were taken in police possession. As per the chats of this group, the pe oners were in touch through telegram messages with numerous 4 4 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 26-07-2024 06:15:55 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:092852 CRM-M-31156-2024 peoples including foreigners and accused Ashin Khan and Amit Laad. Screen shot of relevant por on of chat group is annexed herewith as Annexure R-1 (Colly). Two mobile phones having details of bank transac ons and Telegram chat were recovered from the accused and the same were taken in police possession. Further, from the confessional statement of accused Ashwini, 03 laptops, 05 ATM Cards and 02 cheque books were also recovered from the Gurugram office of the accused. As per report obtained from JMIS portal, 11 complaints are registered against the mobile number recovered from accused Ashwini, in which a fraud of Rs.4,43,288/- has been found to be commi ed.
(6). That as per inves ga on conducted so far and bank account detail of the accused named in FIR and the pe oner and complainant, obtained from various banks, transac on of about Rs.65.00 crores have been found to be made in various accounts purchased by the accused Including their own. Further inves ga on is under process and it is yet to be ensured that what is the source of such large account and where it has been transferred. (7). That the inves ga on of instant case is at a very ini al stage and the accused/pe oner is one of the kingpins of the en re crime. Details of all the given bank accounts, SIM Cards and mobile phones, are s ll to be received from concerned banks and the concerned Telecom Agencies and once same would come, only therea3er it could be ascertained that with how many persons and of how much amount cyber frauds have been commi ed by this gang. Huge transac on touching the figure of 65 Crores in a short span shows that master- minds are involved to cheat the masses at a massive scale.
7. Mr. Rajat Gautam, Ld. Addi onal Advocate General for the State of Haryana submits that the pe oner is a mastermind, the main accused, and prima facie; there is sufficient evidence against him. Therefore, they need custodial interroga on of the pe oner to unearth the massive scam, to determine the involvement of bank officials, and to determine how many people have been vic mized. State counsel further submits that the pe oner commi<ed a fraud of massive amount of Rs.27.61 Crores through cyber fraud by defrauding people and opening mul ple bank accounts, SIM cards, etc.
8. An analysis of the above submissions, counter submissions, and replies would lead to the outcome that the prosecu on has sufficient evidence connec ng the pe oner 5 5 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 26-07-2024 06:15:55 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:092852 CRM-M-31156-2024 with the massive cyber fraud. There is prima facie evidence of fraud of Rs. 27.61 Crores, which has been detected ll now, and the pe oner is one of the primary accused. As per the inves ga on, Rs.65 Crores were transacted by the pe oner and co-accused, taking advantage of so many loopholes in the system.
9. When cybercrime is rampant, and many people are being duped into online fraud, any sensi ve and concerned Execu ve would have woken up and taken preemp ve measures by bringing effec ve and foolproof regula ons, tracking digital devices, and blocking suspicious websites and traffic. Unfortunately, it appears that the concerned officials responsible for controlling law and order are either insensi ve or incompetent or are happy enjoying their plush jobs and plum pos ngs, ignorant of the truth that the callousness is at the cost of the pains and sufferings of innocent vic ms and the poten al vic ms of cybercrime. Faced with such cruel ground reali es, when the ball comes to the Court's court, the Courts have to adjudicate in the background of the gruesome fact situa on. The lack of affirma ve ac on by the Execu ve while dealing with cybercrime has increased the burden on the Court's shoulders, and the Court has to be extra cau ous while gran ng an cipatory bail to cyber-thugs.
10. The pe oner's account has unexplained, dispropor onate, and highly suspicious bank transac ons. Pe oners call details, and chats tell tales of crime. The allega ons are serious, and the offense is heinous. The evidence collected so far points out that the pe oner is a mastermind behind cyber thugee, disen tling him for an cipatory bail.
11. In Sumitha Pradeep v Arun Kumar CK, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1529, Hon'ble Supreme Court holds, [16]. ... We have no ced one common argument being canvassed that no custodial interroga on is required and, therefore, an cipatory bail may be granted. There appears to be a serious misconcep on of law that if no case for custodial interroga on is made out by the prosecu on, then that alone would be a good ground to grant an cipatory bail. Custodial interroga on can be one of the relevant aspects to be considered along with other grounds while deciding an applica on seeking an cipatory bail. There may be many cases in which the custodial interroga on of the accused may not be required, but that does not mean that the prima facie case against the accused should be an cipatory bail. The first and foremost thing that the court hearing an an cipatory bail applica on should consider is the prima facie case put up against the accused. ThereaNer, the nature of the offence should be looked into along with the severity of the punishment. Custodial interroga on can be one of the grounds to decline an cipatory bail. However, even if custodial interroga on is not required or necessitated, by itself, cannot be a ground to grant an cipatory bail.
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12. In the background of the allega ons and in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, the pe oner fails to make a case for an cipatory bail.
13. Any observa on made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor the court taking up regular bail nor the trial Court shall advert to these comments.
Pe11on dismissed. All pending applica ons, if any, stand disposed of.
(ANOOP CHITKARA)
JUDGE
23.07.2024
Jyo -II
Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes
Whether reportable: YES.
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