Karnataka High Court
Bikram Agarwal vs State By on 7 December, 2020
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 7TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 2020
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A.PATIL
CRIMINAL PETITION No.1885 OF 2020
BETWEEN:
Bikram Agarwal,
S/o Sajan Kumar Agarwal,
Aged about 26 years,
R/o Near Biswa Hindu Parishad,
House No.07, Marwadi Quarters,
Junush Patna,
College Square, Cuttak,
Orissa State - 573 003. ...Petitioner
(By Sri. Ayantika Mondal, Advocate)
AND:
State by
Rajagopal Nagar Police
Represented by
State Public Prosecutor,
High Court of Karnataka,
Bengaluru - 560 001. ...Respondent
(By Sri. P.Prasanan Kumar, Standing Counsel for
respondent (no representation))
This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 438 of
Cr.P.C. praying to enlarge the petitioner on bail in the
event of his arrest in Cr.No.16/2020 of Rajagopal Nagar
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Police Station, Bengaluru for the offence punishable under
Sections 419, 420 R/W Section 34 of IPC and Section 43,
65, 66, 66(c), 66(d) and 70 of Information Technology Act,
2000.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders
'Through Video Conferencing', this day, the Court made
the following:-
ORDER
This petition has been filed by petitioner under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. to release him on anticipatory bail in Cr.No.16/2020 of Rajagopal Nagar Police Station, Bengaluru for the offence punishable under Sections 419, 420 r/w 34 of IPC and also under Section 43, 65, 66, 66(c), 66(d) and 70 of Information Technology Act 2000.
2. I have heard the learned counsel Sri.Ayantika Mondal for petitioner, through video conferencing. The learned counsel for respondent remained absent, there is no representation.
3. The case of the complainant is that on 08.01.2020 accused No.1 Ghulam Mustafa has been apprehended by the Railway Police. He was holding IRCTC -3- agent ID and colluding with some other people hacked the Railway Department Software called ANMS and has created more than 563 agent ID's on fake names and used to sell railway software to different persons to book the online tickets and has caused loss of several crores of rupees to the Railways. It is further alleged that he was possessing software created by Pakistan, namely, DARKNET and also possessing hacking software called LINUXS with him and also found many Government Website addresses with him. On the basis of the complaint, a case has been registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for petitioner that, he is innocent and is not involved in any case. It is further submitted that the railway police registered a case in Crime No.758/2019 for the offence punishable under Section 143 of Indian Railway Act 1989 and he voluntarily appeared before Railway Magistrate and the Railway Magistrate by order dated 13.03.2020 has released him on bail. It is further submitted that the petitioner is a businessman and he has got the registered -4- documents for the purpose of doing business and he has also got GST number from the Government of India. It is further submitted that he has got license to sell the software and in that light, he has purchased servers from Amazon Web Services and in that light he has transferred an amount of Rs.2,30,000/- to Amazon Web Services. It is his further submission that subsequently, investigation officer has issued notices under Section 41(a) of Cr.P.C. and he has voluntarily assisted and attended investigation as and when he has been called and already investigation officer in another Crime No.758/2019, seized laptop and mobile phones belonging to petitioner and they are already part of property of the Court. There is nothing to be fabricated or petitioner meddling of the said records. It is further submitted that in Crime No.758/2019, accused has been shown as accused No.11 and in that light, now the investigation has been transferred to CBI and he apprehended arrest at the hands of CBI Police. It is further submitted that the alleged offences are not punishable with -5- death or imprisonment for life and petitioner is a businessman and is having permanent board and he is having deep roots in the society. There is no chance of he absconding and fleeing away from justice. He is ready to abide by the conditions that may be imposed by this Court and ready to offer sureties.
5. I have carefully and cautiously gone through the submission made by the learned counsel for petitioner- accused and perused the records.
6. As could be seen from the records a case has been registered as against petitioner in Crime No.758/2019 and he has appeared voluntarily and has been released on bail. Section 143 of Indian Railway Act 1989 is in respect of carrying on the business of procuring and supplying tickets for travel in a railway or from reserved accommodation for journey in a train and allied offences. As could be seen from the contents of the complaint, similar allegations have been made in the said complaint. -6- Serious allegations have been made as against accused No.1. It is he who has created 563 agent IDs on fake names and selling railway software to different persons to book tickets online and thereby he has caused loss to several crores of rupees. No serious allegations have been made as against petitioner. As could be seen from the records, earlier investigation officer has issued notices under Section 41(a) of Cr.P.C. and accordingly, he has appeared and assisted the investigation properly. Under such facts and circumstances that it goes to show the bonafides of the petitioner are not questionable. When the alleged offences are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life and he has also co-operated with investigation in the initial stage. Taking into consideration the above facts and circumstances, I am of the considered view that if by imposing some stringent conditions, if petitioner is ordered to be released on bail, it is going to meet the ends of justice.
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In that light, petition is allowed, and petitioner is ordered to be released anticipatory on bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No16/2020 in Rajagopal Nagar Police Station, Bengaluru for the offence punishable under Sections 419, 420 r/w 34 of IPC and also under Section 43, 65, 66, 66(c), 66(d) and 70 of Information Technology Act 2000, subject to the following conditions:
i) Petitioner shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs Only) with two sureties for the likesum to the satisfaction of the *Investigating Officer.
ii) He shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence directly or indirectly.
iii) He shall be regular in attending the trial, unless he is exempted for good reasons.
iv) He shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Court without prior permission.
v) He shall mark his attendance before the jurisdictional police on 1st of every month in * Corrected vide Court order dated 8.1.2021 -8- between 10.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m., till the trial is completed.
vi) He shall not indulge in similar type of criminal activities. If he is again indulged in similar type of criminal activities or violates any one of the conditions, the trial Court is at liberty to cancel the bail.
vii) He shall surrender his passport before Investigation Officer, CBI.
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JUDGE pgg