1 CGHC010358042026 2026:CGHC:42259 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRCA No. 1540 of 2026 Mohammed Almas Memon S/o Mohammed Aslam Aged About 28 Years R/o Gouslya Chowk, Nayapara, Sadar Bazaar, Ward No. 39, Raipur Chhattisgarh- 492001 ... Applicant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Investigating Officer, Telibandha Police Station Telibandha Raipur (C.G.) ... Respondent (Cause title taken from Case Information System) For Applicant : Mr. Mohit Kumar, Advocate For Respondent/State : Mr. Manish Kashyap, Panel Lawyer Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal Order on Board 28/09/2026 1. The The present is an application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking for grant of anticipatory bail to the applicant, who is apprehending his arrest in connection with Crime No. 202 of 2026, registered at Police Station Telibandha, Raipur (C.G.) for the offence under Section 4(a) of Public Gambling Act, 1867 and VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Digitally signed by VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Date: 2026.09.30 19:00:56 +0530 2 Section 7 of Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Section 112(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. 2. The case of the prosecution is that, on 05.05.2026, the police of Police Station Telibandha received secret information that one Naman Jaggi was engaged in selling IDs of the Gold777 online betting application near 36 Mall, Telibandha and was engaged in online gambling through his mobile phone. The police conducted a raid at the said place and found Naman Jaggi there, who was in his car bearing registration No. CG 04 QX 3300, and two mobile phones were seized from him. Upon interrogation, he disclosed that he was having the betting application Gold777 along with its ID, namely, Nald, and password Hum12345. He further disclosed that he had been engaged in selling IDs for the last two years and was earning 50% commission. He had purchased the said ID from Mohsil for Rs.3 lakhs and also disclosed his mobile number as 7456871342. He further disclosed the mobile numbers of Surfaraz @ Saif, i.e. 6260386719, and Golu Almas, i.e. 8602490939, to whom he had given the said ID. He further disclosed that he had purchased the betting application Silverbet777, ID No. s201jaggi6660, having its Face ID password, from Sourabh Jain (9770948587) one month earlier on 50% commission for Rs.3 lakhs. He also disclosed that he had purchased the betting application jmdbet777.com, having ID sairam010 and password Aabb1122, from Ayush Jain on 50% commission for Rs.10 lakhs. Cash amounting to Rs.6,000/- was also seized from Naman Jaggi. On the spot, Ayush Jain and Surfaraz @ Saif were also apprehended in their Thar vehicle bearing registration No. CG 04 NU 0313, and two mobile phones were seized from Ayush Jain. 3 From the mobile phone of Ayush Jain, details of an online gambling connection with Bb Gau (Babu Gauli) (7400763004), relating to the betting application allpenalexch9.com with 15% commission, and the saved phone number 7387811111 of Bb NGP were extracted. He also disclosed the names of Sagar Adwani, Jayesh Bhaiya, Chanan, Golu Almas and Amit, along with their mobile numbers, from whom the betting application Diamond Book was obtained, though the same had subsequently been deleted. He further disclosed that he had given one master ID to Raj Gupta of Bhilai for running online gambling at Hyderabad/Bangalore, which was connected with mobile No. 9243690376. Apart from this, some other persons were also operating online gambling from Goa through mobile No. 8817096567 and from Mumbai and Kolkata through mobile No. 7828086215. The accused Surfaraj @ Saif disclosed that he had purchased the betting application and ID from Naman Jaggi and was engaged in playing online gambling in cricket matches along with Ayush Jain. FIR was registered during investigation. From the memorandum statement of Aman Nathani, the names of other accused persons and present applicant has been disclosed. They were running online gambling activities from Kolkata, which was being supervised by Ram Lalwani. From the accused Nishant Hasija, 07 mobile phones, 01 mobile charger and Rs.65,000/- cash have been seized; and from the accused Aman Nathani, 03 mobile phones, 01 laptop, 01 mobile charger, 05 internet routers, 21 ATM cards, 11 bank passbooks, 05 cheque books and Rs.1,20,000/- cash have been seized. The huge quantity of mobile phones, other electronic gadgets and cash amounts have been seized from other accused persons. In all, 14 accused persons were arrested, who were 4 found engaged in the syndicate of online gambling from different places, and their mobile phones, cash amounts and other articles were seized. After completion of investigation against the arrested accused persons, the charge-sheet has been filed, in which the applicant is apprehending his arrest. 3. Mr. Mohit Kumar, learned counsel for the applicant, would submit that there is no direct evidence against the applicant regarding his involvement either in conspiracy with the other accused persons or in playing online gambling. There is no incriminating material recovered from the mobile phones of the other accused persons. Except for the memorandum statement, no substantive evidence is available in the charge-sheet against him. There is also no mention of any mobile number in the screenshot from which the same was extracted. Learned counsel would further submit that only the mobile phone of accused Naman Jaggi was sent for analysis, which itself creates doubt regarding the involvement of the present applicant in the offence in question. No bank account details were extracted from the mobile phones of the co- accused persons and there was no money transaction through their mobile phones. Except for the electronic evidence relating to the mobile phone, there is no other incriminating material available in the charge- sheet implicating the applicant with the offence in question or demonstrating that the accused persons had formed a syndicate and were engaged in playing online gambling. The co-accused persons, namely, Naman Jaggi, Ankit Agrawal, Ayush Jain and Mohammed Sarfaraz Mamdani, have been granted bail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 31.08.2026 in SLP (Crl.) No. 13476/2026 and 5 connected matters. The other co-accused persons, namely, Subodh Ram, Rahul Shukla, Ram Lalwani, Likeshwar Sahu, Akash Singh Rajput, Pradeep Patel and Hitesh Dalwani, have been granted bail by the learned 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Raipur vide order dated 03.09.2026 in Bail Application No. 2596 of 2026. Except the present applicant, all other co-accused persons have been released on bail and the allegations against the present applicant is similar to co-accused persons who have been released on bail. The present applicant is also entitled to be released on anticipatory bail. 4. On the other hand, Mr. Rishi Raj Pithawa, learned counsel appearing for the State, opposes the submissions made by learned counsel for the applicant and submits that there is sufficient and overwhelming material available in the case diary/charge-sheet against the applicant. On the basis of secret information, co-accused Naman Jaggi was apprehended near 36 Mall, Raipur, and he disclosed the involvement of the other accused persons, and the memorandum statements of other accused persons were recorded, in which the involvement of the present applicant was disclosed, with whom they had formed a syndicate for online gambling and running betting applications on commission. From the mobile phone of Naman Jaggi, various incriminating data, including screenshots, have been extracted with respect to the running of betting applications for online gambling. When the co-accused persons were apprehended, they disclosed the chain of their syndicate and the manner in which they were using betting applications through the IDs provided by them. Their network and syndicate spread throughout various States of the country and they had 6 established a huge network for online gambling. The involvement of the present applicant has also been disclosed in running of betting applications and the commission received from online gambling. Learned counsel for the State would further submit that the regular bail application of the co-accused Aman Nathani has been rejected by this Court vide order dated 17.09.2026, passed in MCRC No. 8331 of 2026 and the other accused persons have been granted regular bail either by the Hon’ble Supreme Court or by the learned Sessions Judge. The present applicant is claiming anticipatory bail, which cannot be granted to him, as his custodial interrogation is required. Looking to his active involvement in online gambling, the network throughout various States and the seriousness of the offence, the applicant is not entitled to be released on anticipatory bail. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the respective parties and perused the case diary. 6. The main contention of learned counsel for the applicant is that several co-accused persons have already been enlarged on bail and, therefore, the present applicant is also entitled to the benefit of anticipatory bail. However, the said contention cannot be accepted merely on the ground that some of the co-accused persons have been granted bail. From the material collected during investigation, it appears that the present applicant has been specifically implicated in the alleged online gambling syndicate and his involvement has been disclosed during the course of investigation. The prosecution has also placed material indicating that the accused persons were operating betting applications and conducting online gambling activities as part of an organised 7 network extending to different places. The mobile number of the present applicant i.e. 8602490939 has been disclosed from the contents of the mobile phone of other accused persons, which were used in online gambling and betting App and obtained commission. The active involvement of the present applicant is reflected from the material available in the case diary/charge sheet against the co- accused persons. In the present case, the material available against the applicant, his alleged role in the online gambling syndicate and the nature of his involvement, coupled with the submission of the State that his custodial interrogation is necessary for further investigation into the network and its modus operandi, persuade this Court to reject the anticipatory bail application of the applicant. The fact that certain co- accused persons have been granted bail, therefore, does not by itself confer an indefeasible right of parity upon the present applicant. Having regard to the nature and gravity of the allegations, the material collected during investigation, the alleged organised nature of the online gambling syndicate and the requirement of custodial interrogation, this Court is of the considered view that the present applicant has failed to make out a case for grant of anticipatory bail. 7. Accordingly, the anticipatory bail application of the present applicant Mohammed Almas Memon is rejected. Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) Judge ved