1 CGHC010285742026 2026:CGHC:36121 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 6845 of 2026 Maninder Singh S/o Dilbeer Singh Aged About 36 Years (Wrongly Mentioned As Manindar Singh) R/o Ward No. 08, Behind Ram Mandir, Bhilai, District Durg C.G. ... Applicant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through P.S. Jamul, District Durg C.G. ... Respondent (Cause title taken from Case Information System) For Applicant : Mr. B.P. Singh, Advocate For Respondent/State : Mr. Ghanshyam Kashyap, Deputy G.A. Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal Order on Board 13/08/2026 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 has been arrested on 06.04.2026 in connection with Crime No. 220 of 2026, registered at Police Station Jamul, District Durg, for the offence under Section 111(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Sections 5, 6 and 7 of Chhattisgarh Gambling VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Digitally signed by VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Date: 2026.08.14 20:24:09 +0530 2 (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Sections 146, 196 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. 2. The case of the prosecution is that, on 05.04.2026, the police of police station Jamul received a secret information that, some persons are engaged in playing online gambling. When the police conducted raid on the informed place, they found the accused persons Digeshwar Sinha, Kuleshwar Patel and Dipesh Kumar Lahri @ Sanni and they have been apprehended. On their interrogation, they disclosed the name of present applicant that they obtained whatsapp link of online gambling App from the present applicant through his whatsapp No. 8873181049 and they bet on the online betting App ‘BETBHAI9’. From the co-accused Digeshwar Sinha, his mobile phone and CRETA car, from the accused Kuleshwar Patel, his mobile phone and Maestro scooty and from the accused Dipesh Kumar Lahri @ Sanni, his mobile phone have bee seized. The present applicant has also been arrested on 06.04.2026 and from his possession, two mobile phones, one passbook, 14 cheque books, 21 ATM cards and Rs. 13,000/- cash has been seized. In his memorandum statement, he disclosed the network in which he and other accused persons involved in online gambling. He also disclosed mobile numbers of other accused persons, through which they were made syndicate for online gambling. On search the house of the present applicant, 4.650 KGs ganja and 37 bottles of foreign liquors of various brands have been seized for which a separate offence under Section 20(B) of NDPS Act and Section 34(2) of C.G. Excise Act, 1915 have been registered. The applicant is claiming regular bail in the present offence of Crime No. 220 of 2026 3 registered at police station Jamul, District Durg for the offences under Section 111(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Sections 5, 6 and 7 of Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Sections 146, 196 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant would submit that, at the same time the police registered 3 separate offences against the applicant under the one is Gambling Prohibition Act, second is under NDPS Act and third one is under the Excise Act, which itself demonstrate the arbitration action of the police authorities. The house of the applicant have been searched in the night at about 12:00 Hrs, which cannot be done. The offence of Section 111(1) of the BNS has been dropped by the learned trial Court against the applicant vide order dated 30.07.2026, when the matter was considered for committal of the case, as the offence under Section 111(1) of the BNS is tribal by the court of sessions. He would further submit that except the memorandum statement of the applicant and other accused persons, there is no evidence on record, which demonstrates the involvement of the applicant in online gambling along with other accused persons. Though the police extracted the screenshots from the mobile phones of the co-accused persons, however there is no data which connects the present applicant with them. There is no Cyber analysis report of the mobile phones seized from the applicant or other accused persons. All the documents are fabricated by the police authorities only to falsely implicate the present applicant. The other 3 accused persons who have been initially arrested by the police, have been released on regular bail by the learned trial Court vide order dated 07.04.2026 and 4 the case of the present applicant is similar to them. There is no criminal antecedent against the applicant. There is no any record that any bank transaction has been made in the bank account of the present applicant and he received any amount through online gambling. The applicant is in jail since 06.04.2026, charge sheet has been filed and final adjudication of the case will take its own time. Therefore, the applicant may be released on bail. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State opposes the submissions made by learned counsel for the applicant and would submit that, there is sufficient evidence against the applicant in the case, which directly connects him with the offence in question. In the presence of the witnesses Kamal Nishad and Bharat Dewangan, the memorandum statement of the present applicant has been recorded, in which he disclosed their association and organisation of online gambling. The memorandum statement of the present applicant is also recorded on 07.04.2026, in which he disclosed about the set up of the online gambling established by him along with other accused persons and online transactions. He also disclosed that he provided ‘BETBHAI9’ link to the other accused persons and after retaining 30% commission by Vikas Singh, the remaining 70% commission was provided to him and he received his commission from other accused persons to whom he provided the link. The number of cheque books, ATM cards have been seized from the present applicant in the name of various persons. From the memorandum statement of the present applicant and other accused persons, the seriousness of the offence itself reflects that their gambling activities are spread up to a huge 5 network and number of persons are involved on a huge scale. Therefore, the applicant is not entitled for grant of bail. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case diary. 6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the case diary, this Court finds that the allegations against the applicant are serious in nature. The material collected during investigation prima facie indicates his involvement in organising and facilitating a wider online gambling network. The memorandum statements of the co- accused persons as well as that of the applicant disclose that the applicant had provided the link of the online gambling application, namely, ‘BETBHAI9’, to other accused persons and was receiving commission in respect thereof. Further, from the possession of the applicant, two mobile phones, one passbook, 14 cheque books, 21 ATM cards and cash of Rs.13,000/- have been seized, and the seizure of such a large number of financial instruments standing in the names of different persons prima facie lends support to the prosecution case regarding his involvement in the alleged gambling network. The contention that there is no cyber analysis report or direct evidence of any bank transaction in the account of the applicant is a matter which can be considered at the stage of trial and, at this stage, cannot be examined in isolation from the other material collected during investigation. Likewise, the fact that the offence under Section 111(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 has subsequently been dropped by the learned trial Court vide order dated 30.07.2026 does not wipe out the remaining allegations and material relating to the offences 6 under the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and other offences. The plea of parity also does not come to the aid of the applicant, as the role attributed to him, namely, providing the gambling application link and facilitating the alleged online gambling network, is distinguishable from the role attributed to the co-accused who were initially apprehended at the spot and subsequently granted bail. Though the applicant is in custody since 06.04.2026 and the charge- sheet has been filed, considering the nature and gravity of the allegations, the material collected during investigation and the alleged role of the applicant in facilitating and operating the online gambling network, this Court is not inclined to exercise its discretion in favour of the applicant. 7. Accordingly, the present bail application of the applicant Maninder Singh is rejected. Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) Judge ved