Punjab-Haryana High Court
Rohan Pandey vs State Of Punjab And Another on 14 November, 2024
Author: Anoop Chitkara
Bench: Anoop Chitkara
CRM-M-46341-2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
CRM-M-46341-2024
Reserved on: 08.11.2024
Pronounced on: 14.11.2024
Rohan Pandey ...Petitioner
Versus
State of Punjab and another ...Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA
Present: Mr. Raina S. Thakur, Advocate
for the petitioner.
Ms. Swati Batra, DAG, Punjab.
****
ANOOP CHITKARA, J.
FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections
69 06.06.2024 City Nakodary, 419/420/465/467/468/471/
District Jalandhar 511/120-B IPC and Section
(Rural) 66(D) of the Information
Technology Act, 2000
1. The petitioner incarcerated in the FIR captioned above had come up before this Court under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking regular bail.
2. In paragraph 13 of the bail petition, the accused declares that he has no criminal antecedents.
3. The facts and allegations are being taken from the bail petition, which reads as follows:
"Complaint dated 21.05.2024 received at was Jalandhar (Rural) regarding fraud of Rs. 1,18,45,512/-. Upon investigation in the same, liability of fraud has been fastened upon two ex.
Employees namely Navjot Singh and Vikas Mahajan who allegedly in connivance with the present petitioner have got prepared fake insurance policies in the name of several people and have withdrawn the aforesaid alleged amount of fraud."
4. The petitioner's counsel prays for bail by imposing any stringent conditions and contends that further pre-trial incarceration would cause an irreversible injustice to the petitioner and their family.
5. The State's counsel opposes bail and refers to the status report.
Jyoti Sharma 2024.11.14 16:33 I attest to the accuracy andauthenticity of this order/judgment High Court, Sector 1, Chandigarh 1 CRM-M-46341-2024
6. It would be appropriate to refer to the following portions of the status report, which read as follows:
"iv. On analyzing the CDR and CAF details of mobile numbers 79860-46909, 83602-53933 (both pertaining to Navjot Singh) and 90153-72200 (pertaining to Vikas Mahajan), it was found that maximum number of calls from the said numbers has been made to mobile no. 98541-73000 (pertaining to the present petitioner Rohan Pandey).
v. It is pertinent to mention herein that the photograph affixed on CAF of mobile no. 98541-73000 is that of the same person who, by submitting fake documents in different banks and by affixing his photographs, got opened the bank accounts and got the amount credited from complainant company. Therefore, it was the present petitioner namely Rohan Pandey who had disguised himself and opened fake bank accounts in name of the persons(s) whose policy was intended to be got surrendered from the complainant.
5. That on 08.06.2024, present petitioner Rohan Pandey and co- accused Navjot Singh were arrested in the present case. At the time of his arrest, one fake voter card bearing no. ASM1409549, one fake PAN card no. CLJPA9285(both the said fake documents were in the name of Rohanasree Gullapali) along with car bearing registration no. PB-08-EZ-9290 make Tata Punch was recovered. It is pertinent to mention herein that from the dashboard of the said car, fake documents of surrender certificates no. 70279529 and 70615648 were also recovered.
11. That the present petitioner is one of the masterminds in the instant case as the photograph affixed on CAF of mobile no. 98541-73000 (pertaining to the petitioner) is that of the same person who, by submitting fake documents in different banks and by affixing his photographs, got opened the bank accounts and got the amount credited from complainant company. Therefore, it was the present petitioner namely Rohan Pandey who had disguised himself and opened fake bank accounts in the name of the persons(s) whose policy was intended to be got surrendered from the complainant company. Furthermore, at the time of petitioner's arrest, one fake voter card bearing no. ASM1409549, one fake PAN card no. CLJPA9285 (both the said fake documents were in the name of Rohanasree Gullapali) along with car bearing registration no. PB-08- EZ-9290 make Tata Punch was recovered. It is pertinent to mention herein that from the dashboard of the said car, fake documents of surrender certificates no. 70279529 and 70615648 were also recovered.
12. That as noted above, present petitioner is one of the masterminds in the instant case as the photograph affixed on CAF of mobile no. 98541-73000 (pertaining to the petitioner) is that of the same person who, by submitting fake documents in different banks and by affixing his photographs, got opened the bank accounts and got the amount credited from complainant company. Therefore, it was the present petitioner namely Rohan Pandey who had disguised himself and opened fake bank accounts in the name of the persons(s) whose policy was intended to be got surrendered from the complainant company. Furthermore, at the time of petitioner's arrest, one fake voter card bearing no. ASM1409549, one fake PAN card no. CLJPA9285 (both the said fake documents were in the name of Rohanasree Gullapali) along with car bearing registration no. PB-08- EZ-9290 make Tata Punch was recovered. Jyoti Sharma It is pertinent to mention herein that from the dashboard of the said 2024.11.14 16:33 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment High Court, Sector 1, Chandigarh 2 CRM-M-46341-2024 car, fake documents of surrender certificates no. 70279529 and 70615648 were also recovered."
7. A perusal of the bail petition and the documents attached primafacie points towards the petitioner's involvement and does not make out a case for bail. The impact of crime would not justify bail. Any further discussions will likely prejudice the petitioner; this court refrains from doing so.
8. The petitioner is also not entitled to bail on the grounds of parity with co-accused Ashish and Navjot, whose role was less than that of the petitioner.
9. The petitioner, in association with his accomplices, took advantage of the breaches and vulnerabilities in the weak monitoring and lapses in the system prescribed and put in place by the government. The sly way the petitioner and his accomplices conned, tricked, deceived, swindled, and defrauded the innocent people itself pointed out the dangerous indicator that the thugee has revived through misuse of vulnerabilities in the software and its applications, and if not sternly dealt with now, it might upsurge, revisiting the history.
10. The petitioner's custody of around five months cannot be termed prolonged, given the gravity and severity of the offense.
11. Any observation made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments.
12. Petition dismissed. All pending applications, if any, are disposed of.
(ANOOP CHITKARA) JUDGE 14.11.2024 Jyoti Sharma Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes Whether reportable: No. Jyoti Sharma 2024.11.14 16:33 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment High Court, Sector 1, Chandigarh 3