The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK BLAPL No.10099 of 2024 Vasu J. @ Janardan Vasu ..... State Of Odisha -versus- ..... Petitioner Represented By Adv. - Ipsit Aurobindo Acharya Opposite Party Represented By Adv. – Ms. S. Nayak, ASC M/s Asit Kumar Chaudhary, Adv. for Informant
Legal Reasoning
CORAM: THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ADITYA KUMAR MOHAPATRA Order No.
Decision
ORDER 07.01.2025 06. 1. This matter is taken up through Hybrid Arrangement (Virtual /Physical Mode). 2. On the prayer of the learned counsel for the Petitioner, he is permitted to correct the P.S. Case No. in the cause title of the bail application. Accordingly, the correct P.S. Case No., i.e., Cyber Crime Cuttack P.S. Case No.11 of 2024 dated 28.02.2024 be replaced in place of Cyber Crime Bhubaneswar P.S. Case No.11 of 2024. Corrected cause title already filed, is accepted and taken on record. 3. Heard learned counsel for the Petitioner as well as learned counsel for the Informant and learned Additional Standing Counsel for the State. Perused the records. Page 1 of 5. 4. This is an application under Section 483 of the BNSS filed by the Petitioner for bail in connection with Cyber Crime Cuttack P.S. Case No.11 of 2024, corresponding to C.T Case No. 399 of 2024 pending in the Court of the learned S.D.J.M., Bhubaneswar for alleged commission of offence under Section 419, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, read with Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 5. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the Petitioner is languishing in jail custody since 04.08.2024 and in the meantime investigation has been completed and final charge sheet has been filed on 05.12.2024. Further referring to the prosecution allegation, learned counsel for the Petitioner contended that no money has been transferred to the account of the present petitioner. He further contended that some of the co-accused persons had earlier approached this Court in BLAPL No.9230, 9237 & 9239 of 2024 and have been enlarged on bail by this Court by a common order dated 26.09.2024. He further submitted that as per the affidavit sworn by the DSP, Crime Branch, Odisha, Cuttack dated 06.01.2025, pursuant to the order passed by this Court, no money has been transferred to the account of the present petitioner and that the Petitioner does not have any criminal antecedent either in Tamil Nadu or in Odisha. 6. Further referring to the common order in respect of the co- accused persons dated 26.09.2024, learned counsel for the Petitioner submitted that as per the allegation, a sum of Rs.12,80,000/- was transferred to the account of those persons. Therefore, while releasing those accused persons, this Court had directed to deposit the said amount which was a condition precedent in para-8 of the Page 2 of 5. order dated 26.09.2024. He further contended that the Petitioner is ready and willing to abide any stringent terms and conditions and shall appear before the Court on each and every date fixed, in the event he released on bail by this Court. 7. Learned Additional Standing Counsel on the other hand objected to the release of the Petitioner on bail on the ground of gravity and seriousness of the offence. He further submitted that the present Petitioner is the key person who had arranged all the transactions and was instrumental in commission of the crime. He further stated that the entire criminal conspiracy was hatched by the present Petitioner. Therefore, he is equally responsible for commission of the crime along with other co-accused persons. He further submitted that since the Petitioner does not belong to the State of Odisha, therefore, there is every likelihood that he might abscond in the event he is released on bail and might cause delay in conclusion of the trial. 8. Learned counsel for the informant on the other hand also objected to the release of the Petitioner on bail. He submitted that the present petitioner does not stand in similar footing with the accused persons, who were released by this Court vide order dated 26.09.2024. He further submitted that the Petitioner is the main conspirator in the entire crime as has been alleged in the present case. On such ground, learned counsel for the Informant objected the release of the Petitioner on bail. 9. Having heard the learned counsels appearing for the parties and on careful examination of the materials on record, further taking note of the affidavit dated 06.01.2025 filed by the DSP, Crime Branch, Odisha, Cuttack and further taking into consideration the Page 3 of 5. fact that some of the co-accused persons have been enlarged on bail by a common order dated 26.09.2024, this Court is inclined to release the Petitioner on bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty thousand) with two local solvent sureties each for the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned court in seisin over the matter subject to the following terms and conditions: I) shall not indulge in similar criminal offences while on bail. II) shall cooperate with investigation and shall appear before the I.O. as and when required for the purpose of investigation; and III) shall appear before the jurisdictional Police Station once in a fortnight for a period of three months, thereafter once in a month till conclusion of trial preferably on ‘Sunday’ in between 10.00 A.M. to 1 P.M. IV) shall appear before the Trial Court on each and every date fixed unless prevented by any sufficient cause or his appearance is not dispensed with by the Court. V) shall not tamper with any prosecution evidence or make any attempt to influence or gain over any of the prosecution witnesses. VI) shall not leave the country without prior permission of the trial court and shall surrender his travel documents before the trial court, in the event he does not have Page 4 of 5. any Passport, file an affidavit to that effect. Violation of any of the aforesaid terms and conditions shall entail cancellation of bail. 10. BLAPL is accordingly disposed of. 11. Issue urgent certified copy as per Rules. Gitanjali ( A.K. Mohapatra ) Judge Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: GITANJALI NAYAK Reason: Authentication Location: OHC, CUTTACK Date: 09-Jan-2025 11:22:10 Page 5 of 5.