Rahul Gaut am v. St at e of Ut t arakhand

Code, 1860 in connect ion wit h t he First I nform at ion Report No. 492 of 2024, regist ered at police st at ion Kot wali Haridwar, Dist rict Haridwar.

2. As per t he prosecut ion case, t he inform ant , Mr. Vikas Kaushik, fat her of Mr. Aryan Kaushik, lodged an FI R alleging t hat in July, 2023, he was exploring opport unit ies for his son’s higher educat ion in abroad, subsequent t o his M.B.B.S. degree from Perm s 1 Universit y, Russia. He cam e int o cont act wit h one represent at ive, nam ely, Sagar “ The I nt ernat ionally and Abroad Educat ion Com pany”, a consult ancy firm claim ing t o assist st udent s in securing foreign adm issions.

3. Act ing upon t he assurances ext ended by Sagar, t he inform ant visit ed t he office of t he said consult ancy firm at Angel Mall, Kausham bi, Ghaziabad, where he m et t hree individuals- Ms. Archana Gaut am , Mr. Vivek Kum ar and t he present applicant , who allegedly int roduced t hem selves as Direct ors. They assured t he inform ant of t heir st rong foreign net works and prior successful facilit at ion of st udent adm issions.

4. To reinforce t rust , a video call was arranged wit h one Ms. Susm it a Nanda, based on Germ any, who int roduced herself t he Direct or “ I BS I nt ernat ional”. On her represent at ion, t he inform ant agreed t o pay Rs. 2,00,000/ - in t he account of Ms. Archana Gaut am on 2 nd and 3 rd August , 2023, and subsequent ly t ransferred € 10,500/ - ( approxim at ely Rs. 9,70,000) t o Ms. Nand’s overseas account on

25.08.2023 for adm ission int o Barcelona Universit y, Spain.

5. Thereaft er, t he inform ant was provided wit h 2 an offer let t er purport edly from Barcelona Universit y, and advised t o apply for a st udent visa. However, t he visa was rej ect ed by t he Spanish Em bassy on t he ground of fake docum ent s, which led t o t he filing of t he present FI R.

6. Heard Mr. Sharang Dhulia, learned counsel for t he applicant t hrough video conferencing and Mr. G.C. Joshi, learned A.G.A. for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand and perused t he record.

7. Learned counsel for t he applicant subm it s t hat t he applicant has been falsely im plicat ed; no specific act of forgery or deceit is at t ribut able t o him and co- accused, nam ely Ms. Archana Gaut am , has already been grant ed regular bail by t his Court on

16.04.2025. I t is cont ended t hat his role was rest rict ed t o I ndia- based facilit at ion and consult ancy, t he responsibilit y of generat ing adm ission docum ent s and securing universit y confirm at ion was solely t hat of Ms. Susm it a Nanda, as per a Mem orandum Underst anding ( MOU) dat ed

20.09.2022.

8. The MOU clearly delineat ed t he division of responsibilit ies bet ween “ The I nt ernat ionally” and “ I BS I nt ernat ional”, assigning 80% t o Ms. Nanda’s ent ity and 3 20% t o t he applicant ’s consult ancy. I t is furt her argued t hat t he alleged m oney t hat was deposit ed in t he account of co- accused, Archana Gaut am , has been ret urned t o t he com plainant .

9. Learned counsel t he applicant furt her argued t hat t he applicant has no crim inal ant ecedent s and t here is no specific allegat ion against him .

10. On t he ot her hand, learned A.G.A. for t he St at e, has opposed t he Ant icipat ory Bail Applicat ion orally. He subm it s t hat t he applicant was an act ive conspirat or; has a crim inal hist ory and is involved in m ult iple cases of a sim ilar nat ure, regist ered against him in various St at es.

11. Personal libert y under Art icle 21 of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia is very precious fundam ent al right it should be curt ailed only when it becom es im perat ive according t o t he peculiar fact s and circum st ances of t he case.

12. I n t he fact s and circum st ances of t he case, t he applicant – Rahul Gaut am is direct ed t o be released on Ant icipat ory Bail, in t he event of his arrest , on furnishing his personal bond of Rs. 30,000/ - and t wo reliable suret ies, each t he like am ount on t he following condit ions: - 4 ( i) Applicant shall at t end t he t rial court regularly and he shall not seek any unnecessary adj ournm ent ; ( ii) Applicant shall not direct ly or indirect ly m ake any inducem ent , t hreat or prom ise t o any person, acquaint ed wit h t he fact s of t his case so as t o dissuade him from disclosing such fact s t o t he Court or t o any police officer; ( iii) Applicant shall not leave t he count ry wit hout t he previous perm ission of t he t rial court .

13. I t is clarified t hat if t he applicant m isuses or violat es any of t he condit ions, im posed upon him , t he prosecut ion agency will be free t o m ove t he Court for cancellat ion of t he ant icipat ory bail.

14. First Ant icipat ory Bail Applicat ion ( No. 375 of 2025) st ands disposed of accordingly. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A SH I SH N A I TH A N I , J. Dat e: 24.04.2025 SHIKSHA BINJOLA DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3410ef86ae41ec9fbabcd5dba6b3a2c24b5aa08b09c12f21822fbd40 bf639b1c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=FD80A2D028949381C52796A542D7FF0A9BED00E67B5283D2 05F18FE29BDF5DD9, cn=SHIKSHA BINJOLA 5

Code, 1860 in connect ion wit h t he First I nform at ion Report No. 492 of 2024, regist ered at police st at ion Kot wali Haridwar, Dist rict Haridwar.

2. As per t he prosecut ion case, t he inform ant , Mr. Vikas Kaushik, fat her of Mr. Aryan Kaushik, lodged an FI R alleging t hat in July, 2023, he was exploring opport unit ies for his son’s higher educat ion in abroad, subsequent t o his M.B.B.S. degree from Perm s 1 Universit y, Russia. He cam e int o cont act wit h one represent at ive, nam ely, Sagar “ The I nt ernat ionally and Abroad Educat ion Com pany”, a consult ancy firm claim ing t o assist st udent s in securing foreign adm issions.

3. Act ing upon t he assurances ext ended by Sagar, t he inform ant visit ed t he office of t he said consult ancy firm at Angel Mall, Kausham bi, Ghaziabad, where he m et t hree individuals- Ms. Archana Gaut am , Mr. Vivek Kum ar and t he present applicant , who allegedly int roduced t hem selves as Direct ors. They assured t he inform ant of t heir st rong foreign net works and prior successful facilit at ion of st udent adm issions.

4. To reinforce t rust , a video call was arranged wit h one Ms. Susm it a Nanda, based on Germ any, who int roduced herself t he Direct or “ I BS I nt ernat ional”. On her represent at ion, t he inform ant agreed t o pay Rs. 2,00,000/ - in t he account of Ms. Archana Gaut am on 2 nd and 3 rd August , 2023, and subsequent ly t ransferred € 10,500/ - ( approxim at ely Rs. 9,70,000) t o Ms. Nand’s overseas account on

25.08.2023 for adm ission int o Barcelona Universit y, Spain.

5. Thereaft er, t he inform ant was provided wit h 2 an offer let t er purport edly from Barcelona Universit y, and advised t o apply for a st udent visa. However, t he visa was rej ect ed by t he Spanish Em bassy on t he ground of fake docum ent s, which led t o t he filing of t he present FI R.

6. Heard Mr. Sharang Dhulia, learned counsel for t he applicant t hrough video conferencing and Mr. G.C. Joshi, learned A.G.A. for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand and perused t he record.

7. Learned counsel for t he applicant subm it s t hat t he applicant has been falsely im plicat ed; no specific act of forgery or deceit is at t ribut able t o him and co- accused, nam ely Ms. Archana Gaut am , has already been grant ed regular bail by t his Court on

16.04.2025. I t is cont ended t hat his role was rest rict ed t o I ndia- based facilit at ion and consult ancy, t he responsibilit y of generat ing adm ission docum ent s and securing universit y confirm at ion was solely t hat of Ms. Susm it a Nanda, as per a Mem orandum Underst anding ( MOU) dat ed

20.09.2022.

8. The MOU clearly delineat ed t he division of responsibilit ies bet ween “ The I nt ernat ionally” and “ I BS I nt ernat ional”, assigning 80% t o Ms. Nanda’s ent ity and 3 20% t o t he applicant ’s consult ancy. I t is furt her argued t hat t he alleged m oney t hat was deposit ed in t he account of co- accused, Archana Gaut am , has been ret urned t o t he com plainant .

9. Learned counsel t he applicant furt her argued t hat t he applicant has no crim inal ant ecedent s and t here is no specific allegat ion against him .

10. On t he ot her hand, learned A.G.A. for t he St at e, has opposed t he Ant icipat ory Bail Applicat ion orally. He subm it s t hat t he applicant was an act ive conspirat or; has a crim inal hist ory and is involved in m ult iple cases of a sim ilar nat ure, regist ered against him in various St at es.

11. Personal libert y under Art icle 21 of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia is very precious fundam ent al right it should be curt ailed only when it becom es im perat ive according t o t he peculiar fact s and circum st ances of t he case.

12. I n t he fact s and circum st ances of t he case, t he applicant – Rahul Gaut am is direct ed t o be released on Ant icipat ory Bail, in t he event of his arrest , on furnishing his personal bond of Rs. 30,000/ - and t wo reliable suret ies, each t he like am ount on t he following condit ions: - 4 ( i) Applicant shall at t end t he t rial court regularly and he shall not seek any unnecessary adj ournm ent ; ( ii) Applicant shall not direct ly or indirect ly m ake any inducem ent , t hreat or prom ise t o any person, acquaint ed wit h t he fact s of t his case so as t o dissuade him from disclosing such fact s t o t he Court or t o any police officer; ( iii) Applicant shall not leave t he count ry wit hout t he previous perm ission of t he t rial court .

13. I t is clarified t hat if t he applicant m isuses or violat es any of t he condit ions, im posed upon him , t he prosecut ion agency will be free t o m ove t he Court for cancellat ion of t he ant icipat ory bail.

14. First Ant icipat ory Bail Applicat ion ( No. 375 of 2025) st ands disposed of accordingly. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A SH I SH N A I TH A N I , J. Dat e: 24.04.2025 SHIKSHA BINJOLA DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3410ef86ae41ec9fbabcd5dba6b3a2c24b5aa08b09c12f21822fbd40 bf639b1c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=FD80A2D028949381C52796A542D7FF0A9BED00E67B5283D2 05F18FE29BDF5DD9, cn=SHIKSHA BINJOLA 5