Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:96307 Court No. - 48 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 482 BNSS No. - 2664 of 2025 Applicant :- Vishwajit Kumar @ Chandan Opposite Party :- State Of U.P Through Its Principal Secretary (Home) And Another Counsel for Applicant :- Lackey Keshari,Rajesh Yadav Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Ashutosh Srivastava,J. 1. Heard Sri Rajesh Yadav, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri S.K. Ojha, learned AGA for the State-respondent and perused the records. 2. The present Anticipatory Bail Application at the instance of the applicant Vishwajit Kumar @ Chandan, under Section 482 BNSS has been filed seeking anticipatory bail in Case Crime No. 2 of 2022, under Sections 417, 420, 467, 468, 471, 411 and 120B of IPC and Section 66C, 66D of IT Act, Police Station Cyber Crime, District Varanasi. 3. An FIR dated 14.2.2022 was lodged by the Opposite Party No.2 giving rise to the Case Crime No. 2 of 2022 alleggeing that he has retired serving as a Company Commandar of 25 Vahini, PAC, Rai Bareilly. There was a sum of Rs. 73,85,591/- Cr.P.F. Gratuity Account No. 10946368306 maintained with SBI, Rai Bareilly. He received a phone call from Mobile No. 9330370568 on his mobile number disclosing that the call was from Ghazipur Treasury and enquired from him as in which account he would accept his pension. The Opposite Party No.2 informed that he would accept the same for his Gramin Bank Account. The caller thereafter required the Opposite Party No.2 to download an APP and sent an OTP. The OTP was conveyed to the caller who assured that the work had been done and the opposite party no.2 would have to visit Ghazipur Treasury. On the same day, a sum of Rs. 31,99,800/- was fraudulently withdrawn from the Bank Account No. 10946368306. 4. From the records, it transpires that the applicant was instrumental in getting a Bank account of one Billu Kumar being Bank Account No. 57201504076 opened in ICICI Bank by giving him Rs. 51,000/-. The said Bank account was linked with Mobile No. 8922957430. The ATM Card and the Pass Book were retained by the applicant. The mobile number linked with the Bank Account has been traced to one Jogi Kumar of Kedwai Nagar, Kanpur. Admittedly, a sum of Rs. 30,000,00/- has been received in the said Bank account and the same has been withdrawn. From the investigation carried out so far, it appears that the applicant is prima facie involved in cyber crime. 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. No good ground is made out to grant anticipatory bail to the appellant. Hence, the present application is rejected. Order Date :- 11.6.2025/Akram Digitally signed by :- MOHAMMAD AKRAM High Court of Judicature at Allahabad