2025:UHC:4198 SL. No. Date Office Notes, reports, orders or proceedings or directions and Registrar’s order with Signatures COURT’S OR JUDGE’S ORDERS BA1 No. 708 of 2025 Hon’ble Rakesh Thapliyal, J. 1. Mr. Saurabh Kumar Pandey, learned counsel for the applicant. 2. Mr. Himanshu Sain, learned Brief Holder for the State. 3. The present applicant ‘Pankaj Kumar’ is praying for regular bail in relation to First Information Report dated 31.07.2024 bearing FIR No. 22 of 2024 P.S. Cyber Crime Police Station Kumaon Zone, District Udham Singh Nagar, which was lodged against the unknown persons punishable under Sections 318(4), 61(2), 3(5) of BNS, 2023, and Section 66 D Information Technology Act. 4. Brief facts of the case are that an FIR was registered on 31.07.2024 with the allegation that on 09.07.2024 he received a telephonic communication on his mobile number from unidentified persons. The said callers impersonated officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and further claimed that 17 criminal cases were registered against the complainant’s mobile number with Mumbai Crime Branch. The call subsequently transitioned into a video call wherein an individual donning police attire and claiming to be one Hemraj Kohli, an officer of Tilaknagar Crime Branch, Mumbai, exhibited an identity card and purported copy of an FIR, and informed the complainant that his Aadhaar and mobile number were linked to a financial fraud amounting to Rs. 20 crores. The said person further transmitted screenshots of bank statements and ATM card details through Whatsapp and restrained the complainant from contacting any person or leaving his room, under the threat of arrest of local police officials. Coerced by fear and under misrepresentation, the complainant in compliance with the instructions of the accused transferred a sum of Rs. 45,00,000/- from his account to the HDFC Bank account to an HDFC Bank account provided by the accused. Subsequently, the accused deleted the receipt of the transaction and ceased all communication, thereby causing the complainant to realize that he had been 2025:UHC:4198 subjected to a sophisticated digital fraud and impersonation scam. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated, which is evident from the fact that the applicant is not named in the FIR. He further submits that the charge sheet has already been filed by the Investigating Officer on 15.01.2025 and there is no chance of tampering with the evidence and furthermore there is no need of custodial interrogation of the present applicant and as such the applicant deserves for bail. 6. On the other side, learned State counsel seriously oppose the bail application by submitting that the allegations as alleged in the FIR are very serious in nature and after thorough investigation and after collecting all the credible evidences the charge sheet has been filed. 7. I also peruse the FIR and the allegation alleged in the FIR, this court is of the view that the offences are very serious in nature. 8. Accordingly, the bail application is rejected. (Rakesh Thapliyal, J.) 20.05.2025 PR 2025:UHC:4198