1 2026:CGHC:54 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRCA No. 1984 of 2025 Abhishek Mittal S/o Pramod Kumar Mittal Aged About 29 Years R/o Ward No. 7 Forest Colony Gorela, Tahsil - Pendra Road Gorela, District - Gorela Pendra Marwahi (C.G.) (Wrongly Mentioned District - Bilaspur In Cause Title) ... Applicant(s) versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through - Station House Officer, P.S.- Chandaura, District - Surajpur (C.G.) ... Respondent(s) For Applicant(s) : Mr. D.N. Prajapati, Advocate. For Respondent(s) : Mr. Dharmesh Shrivastava, Dy. A.G. Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Order On Board 02/01/2026 1. The applicant has preferred this application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’), for grant of anticipatory bail, apprehending his arrest in connection with Crime No.103/2025, registered at Police Station Chandaura, District AKHILESH KUMAR DEWANGAN Digitally signed by AKHILESH KUMAR DEWANGAN 2 - Surajpur (C.G.) for alleged commission of offence punishable under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 338, 3(5) of BNS. 2. As per the prosecution, Crime No. 103/2025 has been registered at Police Station Chandoura for offences under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 338 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, on the basis of a written complaint lodged by the complainant Varinder Singh. It was alleged that the driver and owner of trailer bearing registration No. CG10/AX-1700 were transporting coal in excess of the permissible limit by fraudulently altering the mineral e-pass and photocopies of the vehicle registration and permit documents. It was further alleged that the said vehicle possessed three different weight validity certificates, which prima facie indicated forgery and cheating. During investigation, the trailer along with its documents was seized and verification was conducted from the Regional Transport Office, Bilaspur, which confirmed that the actual permissible load capacity of the vehicle was 55,000 kilograms. 3. During the course of investigation, the vehicle owner Dev Anand Gupta, in his memorandum statement, admitted that he had tampered with the photocopies of the registration and permit documents by removing the original load capacity of 55,000 kilograms and replacing it with 57,500 kilograms, and thereafter used such forged documents for preparation of the mineral e-pass. It was further revealed that the present applicant/accused Abhishek Mittal prepared the mineral e-pass after receiving the forged documents through WhatsApp on payment of Rs.800, using login ID No. 407008467, thereby facilitating transportation of coal beyond the 3 permitted capacity, which led to the registration of alleged offence against the applicant. Hence the bail application. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has falsely been implicated in the present case. He further submits that in the present case, out of total four accused persons including the present applicant, three co-accused have already been granted regular bail by the learned trial Court. A copy of the order sheet dated 31.10.2025 is annexed herewith as Annexure-A/3. Further, one co-accused namely Gaya Prasad has also been granted bail by the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Pratappur, whose bail order has been annexed subsequently after receiving the certified copy from the learned trial Court. He also submits that the complainant Varinder Singh, who claims to be a journalist, in collusion with mining officials and employees, is involved in illegal extortion under the guise of journalism and had demanded an amount of RS.40,000/- from co-accused Devanand Gupta. Due to fear, part payment of Rs.50,000/- was allegedly made through PhonePe to Devanand’s mobile number. Being aggrieved, a false and concocted case was engineered by tampering with photocopies of the mineral e-pass and vehicle registration documents. Notably, co-accused Devanand Gupta has already been granted bail by the learned trial Court. Hence he prays to enlarge the applicant on anticipatory bail. 5. On the other hand, learned State counsel opposed the prayer for grant of anticipatory bail and submits that the applicant knowingly 4 prepared a forged mineral e-pass on the basis of tampered vehicle documents, thereby facilitating illegal transportation of coal beyond the permissible load capacity, therefore, the anticipatory bail application of the applicant deserves to be rejected. 6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case diary. 7. Taking into consideration the nature of allegation made against the present applicant that he knowingly prepared the mineral e-pass on the basis of forged and tampered photocopies of the vehicle registration and permit documents received through WhatsApp, after accepting a payment of Rs.800/-, thereby facilitating transportation of coal in excess of the permissible load capacity, as such, I am not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the applicant. 8. Accordingly, the anticipatory bail application of the applicant - Abhishek Mittal, involved in Crime No.103/2025, registered at Police Station Chandaura, District - Surajpur (C.G.) for alleged commission of offence punishable under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 338, 3(5) of BNS, is rejected. Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Akhil