Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:83402 Court No. - 68 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 11821 of 2025 Applicant :- Tushar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Ashok Kumar Tiwari,Vimlendu Tripathi Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Ashutosh Srivastava,J. Heard learned counsel for the applicant, Shri Rakesh Shukla, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record of the case. The present bail application under Section 483 of B.N.S.S. has been filed on behalf of applicant, Tushar, with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 292 of 2023, under Section 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 of I.P.C., Police Station-Nauchandi, District- Meerut. In the prosecution case, it is alleged that informant has purchased a B.S.N.L. mobile number i.e. 9411444444 from Meerut as a prepaid number having one year recharge of Rs. 3000/-, but after some time, the mobile network stopped working, therefore informant has visited B.S.N.L. Office and he was advised to get duplicate SIM. His previous SIM was replaced by a duplicate SIM by an employee of B.S.N.L. Office namely Komal. She has taken the mobile phone of the informant, his Adhaar Card, clicked his photo by his phone and also asked for an alternative number. Informant was using the B.S.N.L. SIM only for official purposes. After some time, the network of duplicate SIM also stopped working. Informant again visited the B.S.N.L. Office, where he was told that his number has been ported to JIO Service and the same was registered under the name of one 'Bansal'. Informant has already paid one year recharge and also it was a V.I.P. number then why informant will port it in another network, which creates doubt and the informant has made complaint before the Additional D.G.T., U.P. West LSA, Meerut and asked to return his number in previous B.S.N.L. service. Thereafter, applicant went to his bank, where he was told that money has been debited from his account through UPI, ever since he has taken duplicate SIM. Then informant made an application to the bank concerned to blocked his account. Applicant has neither using any ATM, online payment or made any request before his bank for online transaction, always used Check Book for transaction, due to fear of fraud. Total Rs. 26,21,530/- has been debited from the account of informant since 08.09.2023to 09.10.2023. Hence the present F.I.R. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is not named in the FIR. The applicant has been falsely implicated. Applicant belongs from a poor family and doing private job as a salesman for a salary of Rs. 7,000/- per month. The applicant is languishing in jail since 10.01.2025. He has no previous criminal antecedents, which is said in para no. 27 of the bail application. It is further submitted that there is no possibility of the applicant of fleeing away after being released from jail or tampering with the witnesses. In case the applicant is enlarged on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail. Per contra, learned A.G.A. has supported the order passed by the Additional 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. 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 circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, his role and involvement in the offence 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 I. T. Act 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 :- 10.4.2025 Vibha Singh Digitally signed by :- VIBHA SINGH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad