Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:83409 Court No. - 68 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 3127 of 2025 Applicant :- Pankaj Bishnoi And Another Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Bhism Shankar Yadav,Raghav Arora,Shambhavi Nandan Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Ashutosh Srivastava,J. 1. Heard Sri Raghav Arora, learned counsel for the applicants, Sri Arimardan Yadav, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record. 2. The present bail application has been filed on behalf of applicants, Pankaj Bishnoi and Arvind Bishnoi, under Section 483 BNSS with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 520 of 2024 for offence punishable under Sections 308 (2), 308 (6), 318 (4), 61 (2) BNSS & Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act, registered at Police Station Jalesar, District Etah, during pendency of the trial, after rejection of his bail application by Sessions Judge, Etah, vide order dated 08.01.2025. 3. Learned counsel for the applicants submits that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case with ulterior motive. It is further submitted that the applicants have not committed any offence as alleged in the FIR. The applicants are not named in the FIR. Their name have surfaced during course of investigation in the statement of co-accused Dhurvraj Singh @ Akash and on the basis of statement of co-accused, applicants have been implicated in the present case. Nothing has been recovered from the possession of the applicants. Initially the FIR was lodged under Section 66D of I.T. Act and during investigation, the aforesaid section have been added against the applicants without any cogent evidence. There is no material evidence against the applicant except the statement of co-accused Dhurvraj Singh @ Akash. No offence is made out against the applicants under the aforesaid sections. 4. He has next argued that the applicant has no previous criminal history except the present case and the prosecution story is concocted and baseless and if the applicant is released on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail. He is languishing in jail since 12.12.2024. 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. 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. 8. 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. 9. In view of the above, the Court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail. The bail application is, accordingly, rejected. Order Date :- 14.5.2025 v.k.updh. Digitally signed by :- VINOD KUMAR UPADHYAY High Court of Judicature at Allahabad