Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:83329 Court No. - 68 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 45931 of 2024 Applicant :- Abhishek Mishra Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Avaneesh Kumar Upadhyay,Virat Pratap Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Ashutosh Srivastava,J. 1. Counter affidavit filed today by learned A.G.A. on behalf of the State is taken on record. 2. Heard learned counsel for the applicant, Sri R.K. Srivastava, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record. 3. The present bail application has been filed on behalf of applicant, Abhishek Mishra, under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 05 of 2024 for offence punishable under Sections 420, 406 of the Indian Penal Code & Sections 66C, 66-D of the Information Technology Act, registered at Police Station Cyber Crime Police, District Muzaffar Nagar, during pendency of the trial, after rejection of his bail application by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Muzaffar Nagar, vide order dated 16.10.2024. 4. Brief facts of the case are that opposite party No. 2 filed a complaint before the Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffar Nagar, with the allegation that a cyber fraud committed against him. He had opened on-line share trading account with angle app's, then the whatsapp group has offered him handsome promises and persuade him to invest money in share market and later on they have removed him from groups and grabbed his money. It is further alleged that the complainant has transferred Rs. 5,75,000/- in different accounts in different banks. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case with ulterior motive. It is further submitted that the applicant is not named in the FIR and the FIR was lodged against unknown person. The name of the applicant has come into light during course of investigation in the statement of co-accused Vikas Trivedi. The only allegation against the applicant is that he has opened the account of one Bankeyh Bihari Traders and no any other allegation against him in any case. 6. He has next argued that the applicant has no previous criminal history and on the basis of statement of Vikas Trivedi he has made accused in the present case, one case and if the applicant is released on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail. He is languishing in jail since 08.07.2024. 7. Per contra, learned A.G.A. has supported the order passed by the Sessions Court and vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant and submits that the allegations involved are very serious in nature and the delay in lodging the F.I.R. cannot be said to be fatal to the case at this juncture while considering the application of bail. But he could not point out any material to the contrary. He, however, submits that in case the applicant is released on bail, he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail. 8. It is a settled law that while granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusation, the nature of the evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, the circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, his role and involvement in the offence, his involvement in other cases and reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with. 9. This Court finds that in India, the rapid advancement of technology and the widespread adoption of digital infrastructure have led to a significant rise in cyber-crimes including phishing scams, ransomware attacks, cyber-stalking and data breaches. Initiatives like Digital India have accelerated the country's' digital transformation, but they have also exposed vulnerabilities that cyber-criminals exploit. 10. Cyber-crime has been affecting the people across the nation, irrespective of religion, region, education or class. Newspapers, Magazines, You Tube Channels and Social Media are brimming with ordeals of an uncountable number of innocent victim of the cyber-crime, who are defrauded of their hard earned money. Such cyber-crimes are rampant in our society, and must be curbed. Cyber-crime in our country is like a silent virus stealthy, disruptive, and costing society more than just money, but trust, security and progress. 11. In view of the above, the Court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail. The bail application is, accordingly, rejected. Order Date :- 12.3.2025 v.k.updh. Digitally signed by :- VINOD KUMAR UPADHYAY High Court of Judicature at Allahabad