HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 10667 of 2025 Court No. - 66 HON'BLE ASHUTOSH SRIVASTAVA, J. Heard Shri Anurag Mishra (through video conferencing) and Shri Prabhat Kumar Mishra, learned counsel for the applicant, Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, learned AGA for the State as also Shri Vineet Vikram, learned counsel for the first informant and perused the records. The instant bail application under Section 483 of BNSS at the instance of the applicant, Sannikant Kumar has been filed seeking enlargement on bail in Case Crime No. 6 of 2025, under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 111(2)(b) of BNS and Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act, Police Station Cyber Crime, District Prayagraj. The bail application of the applicant before the Court below was rejected by the learned Sessions Judge, Prayagraj, vide order dated 17.03.2025 and the applicant has been languishing in jail since 15.02.2025. Learned counsel for the applicant has argued that the applicant is entirely innocent and has been roped in this very case crime number for ulterior motives. The FIR giving rise to the case crime number in question was lodged on 13.02.2025 at 7:05 Hrs. with the allegation that the first informant is a Building Contractor and Versus Counsel for Applicant(s) : Heera Lal Yadav, Prabhat Kumar Mishra, Pradeep Kumar, Suman Yadav Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A., Vineet Vikram Sannikant Kumar .....Applicant(s) State of U.P. .....Opposite Party(s) on 27.12.2024 he transferred a sum of Rs.10.40,687/- from his Bank A/c No. 0491110003024 maintained with Punjab National Bank, Jhansi in favour of Jindal Steel Company's A/c No. 110206551033, Code No. CNRB0018556 maintained with Canara Bank, Ghaziabad for purchasing construction material. Later on, it came to light that the Bank Account was fake and he had been subjected to cyber fraud. The applicant is not named in the FIR nor the Bank Account mentioned in the FIR belongs to the applicant. During investigation, it has been revealed that the Bank A/c No. 110206551033 maintained with Canara Bank belongs to one Vikas Kumar S/o Dular Chandra Manjhi. Investigation further reveals that the said Vikas Kumar transferred a sum of Rs. 50,000/- from the said Bank Account to one Monu Kumar's Bank A/c No. 1969019006227338 and sum of Rs. 1,40,500/- to the Bank Account of Vikas Kumar, Raja Colony, Kanta Toli Ranchi, Jharkhand Bank A/c No. 1263019507386168 and another sum of Rs. 5,00,000/- to the Bank A/c No. 128950700001784 in the name of Rudra Kumar. The said Vikas Kumar is also stated to have purchased jewellery worth Rs. 2,80,203/- from Sagar Mal Jewelers, Bihar. Investigation further revealed that Jewellery worth Rs. 2,57,622/- was purchased from Kripashree Jewelers Tanishq on 27.12.2024 and two persons including the present applicant were seen purchasing the jewellery and the same was captured on CCTV. The applicant and other co-accused persons were arrested when they again visited the aforesaid jewellery shop located in Kankarbagh, Patna. From the possession of the applicant four mobile phones and one ATM card was recovered. Learned counsel for the applicant has vehemently argued that the applicant has nothing to do with the incident in question, he is neither beneficiary of any transaction nor has purchased any jewellery from the amount misappropriated by cyber fraud. There is absolutely no evidence to implicate the applicant in the commission of the crime. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that charge sheet dated 10.4.2025 has already been filed before the Trial Court. Learned counsel for the applicant submits BAIL No. 10667 of 2025 2 that amount in question were never received in the bank account of the applicant nor the amount was ever used by the applicant. The applicant has no criminal history and undertakes to cooperate with the trial. Hence bail is prayed for. Per contra, learned AGA as also Shri Vineet Vikram, learned counsel for the first informant have vehemently opposed the bail plea by submitting that the complicity of the applicant stands established from the CCTV Footage of Kripashree Jewelers, Tanishq, where on 28.12.2024 two accused namely Shani Kant (present applicant) and co-accused Suraj visited the shop and purchased two gold coins worth Rs. 2,57,622/0 and made payment from A/c No. 128950700001784 belonging to one Rudra Kumar S/o Indrajeet Paswan and ATM Card of the aforesaid Bank Account was with the accused along with Adhar Card. The accused persons also purchased jewellery from Sagar Mall Jewelers worth Rs. 2,80,203/- and made payment from the A/c No. 1102065511035 belonging to Vikas Kumar. The accused Shani Kant Kumar son of Manoj Kumar (present applicant), Suraj Kumar Son of Prem Kumar, Ravi Ranjan Patel were seen in the CCTV Footage of the jewellery shop establishing their complicity. The applicant is permanent resident of State of Bihar and if enlarged on bail shall abscond and not cooperate with the trial. Hence prayer to reject the bail has been made. 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. BAIL No. 10667 of 2025 3 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. September 9, 2025 Ravi Prakash BAIL No. 10667 of 2025 4 (Ashutosh Srivastava,J.) Digitally signed by :- RAVI PRAKASH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad