1 2025:CGHC:50987 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 7875 of 2025 1 - Gaurav Hablani S/o Sunil Hablani, Aged About 20 Years R/o Bangali Colony, Mata Devalaya Ward, Bhatapara, P.S. Bhatapara, District Balodabazar Bhatapara (C.G.) ... Applicant(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station Bhatapara District Balodabazarbazar Bhatapara (C.G.) ... Respondent(s) For Applicant (s) : Mr. Bhaskar Payasi, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Ms. Sunita Manikpuri, Dy. G.A. Hon’ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, J Order on Board 13.10.2025 1. This is the first bail application filed by the applicant under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, for grant of regular bail. The applicant was arrested on 05.05.2025 in connection with Crime No. 288 of 2025, registered at Police Station Bhatapara (City), District Baloda-Bazar, Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh for the offence under Sections 07, 08 of Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Sections 318(4), 319(2), SAGRIKA AGRAWAL Digitally signed by SAGRIKA AGRAWAL Date: 2025.10.14 17:55:22 +0530 2 336(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2), 238, 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section 42(2) of Telecommunications Act and Sections 66(C), 66(D) of Information Technology Act, 2000. 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 05-05-2025, the police of Police Station Bhatapara (City) received secret information that a person is engaged in playing online gambling through his mobile phone near the State Bank of India and betting in the IPL Cricket Match. The police have conducted a raid and caught the present applicant, Gourav Hablani, who was actively involved in online gambling. He was interrogated, and he disclosed that he used Allpanelexch.app, the goexch09.com platform for betting in the IPC 20-20 Cricket match through his mobile No. 7224090781 and obtained the online login password of Mc123456 and ID KLSGOI. He also disclosed that his brother, Kapil Hablani, mobile No. 8421478285 and his friend Deepak Sablani, mobile No. 7723008660, have also engaged in online gambling for a long time and reside at Vasco (South Goa) and are using the betting platform of RBC139, Kheloyaar 164, Win Bus07. The online betting platform Allpanelexch.app and goexch09.com were also provided to Gourav Hablani by Kapil Hablani and Deepak Sablani. The applicant Gourav Hablani has been arrested on the spot, and other accused persons have been arrested from Goa, and the charge sheet has been filed. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant would submit that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the offence. There is no evidence against the applicant that connects him with the offence in question. Except for the memorandum statement, no other incriminating material is available to the prosecution agency. The memorandum statement is inadmissible for the present applicant. From the mobile phone of the present applicant, Gourav Hablani, no data could have been extracted, which implicates the present applicant in the offence. The inculpatory part of the memorandum statement of the applicant is inadmissible in evidence. Except for the transaction of Rs. 3 200/- and Rs. 800/- on a few occasions in the bank account of his brother, no other evidence of any transaction by the applicant. The mobile phone seized from the accused persons has not been sent for examination to the Cyber Cell till date. There is no evidence of any bank transaction from the bank account of the present applicant collected by the prosecution. There is no criminal antecedent against the applicant. He is in jail since 05-05-2025, and after the completion of the investigation, charge sheet has been filed. Final adjudication of the case will take its own time. Therefore, the applicant may be released on bail. 4. Opposing the bail application, learned counsel appearing for the State would submit that there is sufficient evidence against the applicant in the case, which directly connects him with the offence in question. In the present case, on being secret information, the police caught the present applicant first, who disclosed the network of online gambling, and then the other accused persons were arrested. The mobile phone having mobile No. 7224090781 was seized from the present applicant, and a view panchnama was also prepared. From the mobile phone of the present applicant, sufficient material was recovered which directly connects him to the alleged offence of online gambling, along with other accused persons, who engaged in online gambling and operated the network from South Goa, and their syndicate has been discovered. From his mobile phone, the online batting platform of allpanelexch.app, goexch09.com, login ID of KLSG01 and login password Mc123456 was discovered. A huge network of online gambling throughout India was discovered, and huge money transaction through various bank accounts was also found. In the presence of the witness Ramsanehi Kaiwartya, the applicant disclosed his association and organisation of online gambling. The memorandum statement of the present applicant is also recorded on 05-05-2025, in which he disclosed the set-up of the online gambling established by him along with other accused persons and online 4 transactions. He also disclosed the involvement of other accused persons and the entire affairs of the online gambling. Various bank accounts, bank transactions, betting apps, and modes of transactions have been disclosed by him. He would also submit that the bail application of similarly situated co- accused Aman Dewangan has been rejected by the order passed by this Court on 04.07.2025, in MCRC No. 4258 of 2025, and the bail application of Deepak Sablani has been rejected on 28-08-2025 in MCRC No. 6451/2025. Therefore, the applicant is not entitled to bail. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case diary. 6. For consideration of the bail application of the applicant, the Court need not go deep into the merits of the case, but should consider the prima facie material against the accused in the case. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of “Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India” 2023 (12) SCC 1, has observed in para 303 of its judgment that:- "303. We are in agreement with the observation made by the Court in Ranjitsing Brahmajeetsing Sharma [(2005) 5 SCC 294). The Court while dealing with the application for grant of bail need not delve deep into the merits of the case and only a view of the Court based on available material on record is required. The Court will not weigh the evidence to find the guilt of the accused which is, of course, the work of Trial Court. The Court is only required to place its view based on probability on the basis of reasonable material collected during the investigation and the said view will not be taken into consideration by the Trial Court in recording its finding of the guilt or acquittal during trial which is based on the evidence adduced during the trial. As explained by this Court in Nimmagadda Prasad [(2013) 7 SCC 466], the words used in Section 45 of the 2002 Act are "reasonable grounds for believing" which means the Court has to see only if there is a genuine case 5 against the accused and the prosecution is not required to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt." 7. In the case of “Satish Jaggi Vs. State of Chhattisgarh”, (2007) 11 SCC 195, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that "at the stage of granting of bail, the Court can only go into the question of prima facie case established for granting bail, it cannot go into the question of credibility and reliability of witnesses put up by the prosecution. The question of credibility and reliability of prosecution witnesses can only be tested during the trial." 8. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of “Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Vs. CBI”, reported in (2013) 7 SCC 439, has held in para 34 and 35 of its judgment that "34. Economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail. The economic offences having deep-rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds need to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country. 35. While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of the public/State and other similar considerations. 9. Considering the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, considering the nature of the allegation, and the material collected during the investigation, further considering the gravity of the offence, which has been 6 disclosed in the memorandum statement of the applicant as well as other accused persons, which disclosed the huge network of online gambling throughout the country, the active involvement of the applicant in online gambling and money transactions through various betting apps along with other accused persons, the impact of the offence and the effect of the Indian economy, there is prima facie evidence available against the applicant, which shows his involvement in the offence in question. He is the first person who was arrested, and on his disclosure, the entire network of their online gambling was detected. Huge running network of illegal online betting apps, using the betting app of Kheloyaar.com, using the bank transactions for circulation of illegal money, which is the proceeds of crime, and their entire setup of online gambling, involvement of other accused persons throughout the country, and the statement of Ramsanehi Kaiwartya, make the applicant disentitled for grant of bail. Further, the bail application of co-accused Aman Dewangan has been rejected by this Court on 04.07.2025, in MCRC No. 4258 of 2025, Deepak Sablani has been rejected on 28-08-2025 in MCRC No. 6451/2025, and the case of the applicant is similar to the cases of other accused persons Aman Dewangan and Deepak Sablani. Therefore, this Court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail. 10. Accordingly, the bail application of the applicant Gaurav Hablani is rejected. Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) Judge sagrika