Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:77092 Court No. - 68 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 11280 of 2025 Applicant :- Ajay Gupta Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Sudheer Rana,Vikram Bahadur Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Ashutosh Srivastava,J. Heard Sri Sudheer Rana, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Arimardan Yadav, learned counsel for the State Respondent and perused the record. The present bail application has been filed on behalf of applicant with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 13 of 2024 for offence punishable under Sections 406, 420, 411/34 of the Indian Penal Code & Section 66-C & 66-D of the Information Technology (Amended) Act, registered at Police Station Cyber Crime, District Fatehpur, during pendency of the trial, after rejection of his bail application by Sessions Judge, Fatehpur, vide order dated 08.10.2024. Brief facts of the case are that the first information report dated 30.08.2024 has been lodged against the accused-applicant and some unknown persons alleging therein that on 17.05.2024, the present accused-applicant, Ajay Gupta told the informant that he had sold a plot for which commission is to be received and due to low limit of his bank account it cannot be credited to his account. Since he has to get urgent money therefore he requested the informant to give him the bank account number. Due to previous acquaintance and trust, the informant gave the bank account number to the present accused-applicant, Ajay Gupta. On the same day Rs. 1,58,600/- was deposited in his account. Thereafter the informant called the present accused-applicant, Ajay Gupta and told him that your money has arrived in the account. On which, the accused-applicant, Ajay Gupta came to him and took his ATM and withdrew the money. The bank account number was 081401001584 (ICICI Bank) in which Rs.1,58,6000/- was deposited. As the limit of ATM card in his account was up to one lakh rupees, he transferred Rs. 58,600/- to his other bank account number 921010028275542 (Axis Bank) and gave his ATM Card as well. He withdrew Rs.1,58,600/- from both his cards and gave it to Ajay Gupta. On 29.05.2024, Ajay Gupta sent Rs. 64,000/- from UPI to his salary account number. It is alleged that the accused- applicant cheated the informant by taking money in his account. It was came to the knowledge that the Ajay Gupta along with some unknown persons are involved in cyber crime and the money from cyber crime come into his account. 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 there is no direct evidence against the applicant to connect the applicant in the aforesaid case. He has next argued that the applicant has no previous criminal history and if the applicant is released on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail. He is languishing in jail since 31.08.2024. Hence the prayer for bail is made. 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. 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. He further submits that the accused-applicant along with other accused used to cheat and defraud people though online transaction of money. The accused applicant used to transfer the money of the people to the accounts of the applicant-accused and others and withdraw it. When the account of the applicant-accused was put on hold, the accused-applicant cheated the informant by taking his account number and transferred the money to it and took the informant's ATM and withdrew the said amount. The accused-applicant with co-accused is a group who commit such cyber crimes. In the investigation, sufficient evidence has been collected against the applicant-accused. The crime committed by the applicant-accused is serious in nature and the applicant-accused is not entitled to be released on bail. 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. 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. 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. In view of the above, the Court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail. The bail application is, accordingly, rejected. Order Date :- 12.5.2025 pks Digitally signed by :- PAWAN KUMAR SINGH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad