Mr. Jitendra Kumar Singh, Mr. Nishant Verma Mr. Surya Kanta, Advs v. THE STATE OF NCT OF DELHI

Judgment

1. The present application is filed seeking pre-arrest bail in FIR No. 164/2025 dated 14.05.2025 registered at Police Station Special Cell under Sections 318(4)/319(2)/3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 ((cid:145)BNS(cid:146)).

Briefly stated, FIR in the present case was registered pursuant to a complaint made regarding cyber fraud of ₹66,00,000/- on the pretext of trading on the share market. It is alleged that the victim had installed an App called (cid:145)Upstox(cid:146) and registered himself in order to partake in small scale trading. It is alleged that after fifteen minutes of registering himself, the victim received a phone call, in which he was told to fill a form Signature Not Verified Signed By:HARMINDER KAUR Signing Date:10.12.2025 17:52:57 BAIL APPLN. 4728/2025 to proceed further and was sent a link for doing the same. It is alleged that the victim was made to join a WhatsApp group namely, (cid:147)VIP 2 Customer Care(cid:148) where there were around 5 active members. It is alleged that the victim transferred an amount of ₹67,60,000/- through various modes as induced by the accused persons under the pretext of investing.

3. During the course of investigation, the details of bank accounts where the cheated amount had been transferred was obtained. One of the aforesaid bank accounts was registered under the name of one, Akshaya Kumar Nayak. On 04.08.2025, a raid was conducted at the residence of accused Akshaya Kumar Nayak and during the search of his residence, the mobile phone along with the sim card linked to the alleged account was recovered.

4. Thereafter, accused Akshaya Kumar Nayak was arrested and during his interrogation, he allegedly disclosed that he was approached by accused Amit Mukhi in February 2025 to start a business for which opening a current account in a bank was required. He disclosed that accused Amit Mukhi informed him that amounts from betting apps would be deposited in the said account. He disclosed that he was introduced to the applicant by accused Amit Mukhi and the applicant took his signatures on various documents and opened a bank account in his name. He disclosed that he handed over his mobile phone to the applicant. He disclosed that the applicant took him to Puri, Orissa, where they were staying in a hotel along with two other persons. He Signature Not Verified Signed By:HARMINDER KAUR Signing Date:10.12.2025 17:52:57 BAIL APPLN. 4728/2025 further disclosed that the applicant handed over his mobile number which was linked to the said account to those persons in order to make the transactions.

5. The learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case.

6. He submits that the applicant was never part of any WhatsApp group through which the victim has been cheated. He submits that the applicant has clean antecedents.

7. He submits that the applicant has only been implicated in the present case because he received an amount of ₹17,000/- in his bank account from the accused Akshaya(cid:146)s account. He submits that the said amount was paid to the applicant as salary/ advance from the diagnostic centre where he had been working part-time since April 2025.

8. He submits that there is no requirement for custodial interrogation of the applicant and he is willing to join and fully cooperate with the investigation.

9. Per Contra, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State vehemently opposes the grant of any relief to the applicant.

10. He submits that the bank account in which the cheated amount was transferred is registered in the name of accused Akshaya Kumar Nayak, however, the mobile number linked to the said account has been found to be used in the applicant(cid:146)s mobile phone. He submits that both the email ids linked with the Signature Not Verified Signed By:HARMINDER KAUR Signing Date:10.12.2025 17:52:57 BAIL APPLN. 4728/2025 aforesaid account have been found to be linked with the applicant(cid:146)s mobile phone.

11. He submits that during the analysis of the statements of the aforesaid bank account, it has been found that the applicant made several transactions from 26.04.2025 to 29.04.2025 in order to check the operational statement of the said account, before transferring the amount of ₹17,000/- to his account.

12. He submits that the CDR analysis of accused Akshaya Kumar Nayak and the applicant reveals that both of them were present in Puri, Orissa at the time of the alleged transactions.

13. He submits the applicant is absconding and proceedings under Section 84 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraskha Sanhita, 2023((cid:145)BNSS(cid:146)) have been initiated against the applicant.

15. I have heard the counsel and perused the record. The considerations governing the grant of pre-arrest bail are materially different than those to be considered while adjudicating application for grant of regular bail, as in the latter case, the accused is already under arrest and substantial investigation has been carried out by the investigating agency.

16. It is trite law that the power to grant a pre-arrest bail is extraordinary in nature and is to be exercised sparingly. Thus, pre-arrest bail cannot be granted in a routine manner. The Hon(cid:146)ble Apex Court, adverting to its previous precedents, has discussed the parameters to be considered while considering pre-arrest bail applications, in the case of State of A.P. v. Bimal Krishna Kundu : (1997) 8 SCC 104, has held as under: Signature Not Verified Signed By:HARMINDER KAUR Signing Date:10.12.2025 17:52:57 BAIL APPLN. 4728/2025