2025:BHC-AS:9492 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO. 3443 OF 2024 MOHAMED HUSAIN MAQSOOD SHEKHA ...APPLICANT VS STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANR ...RESPONDENTS ------------

Adv. Khatri Mohamed Adil a/w. Adv. Nazneen Khatri, Sagar Samel and Tasmiya Memon for the Applicant.

Mr. Ajay S. Patil, APP for the State.

Adv. Vaibhav Sugdare for Respondent No.2.

PI S. V. Ajgaonkar, Mumbra Police Station.

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CORAM : RAJESH S. PATIL, J.

DATE : FEBRUARY 24, 2025.

P.C. :

1. The applicant has filed the present application under 482 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Surakhsa Sanhita, 2023 apprehending his arrest in C. R. No. 2081 of 2024 registered with Mumbra Police Station, Thane City for the offences punishable under Sections 406, 409, 420 and 503 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishment) Act, 1999.

2. The prosecution case has been specifically stated in the complaint lodged which forms part of the FIR. The present applicant is accused no. 5. Accused Nos. 2, 8 and 9 have been arrested. The role of all the accused persons is mentioned in the FIR, so also in the statements recorded.

3. The learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is a young boy of 23 years, and he is an agent similar to the complainant of the company called ‘Oris Team Poland’. There is a locking period in the agreement, hence, although the applicant has been cheated by the other accused persons, he is unable to file any complaint or a suit against those accused.

4. The charge-sheet has been already filed against three accused persons. The applicant is working in the film industry as a body double of actor Ranbir Kapoor. In order to maintain his status in the film industry he has purchased a high end car ‘BMW’. The said car is purchased on a loan. Due to the present FIR being filed and the applicant being arraigned as an accused, the police have frozen the bank account of the applicant.

5. The applicant is facing hardship due to the bank account being frozen and in the said bank account, the applicant’s hard earned money of Rs.17 lakhs is balance. The applicant has no role to play in the fraud being committed by the accused nos. 1 to 3. The applicant is ready to co-operate with the police and his custody is not at all required. It is submitted that the Oris Coin as of today approximately values at Rs. 11. It is submitted that no doubt the present applicant had told people to invest in Oris Coin, however, people have got their money back including the present informant.

6. Learned counsel for the Applicant also referred to certain orders passed by this Court in crypto currency matters. He also referred the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Internet and Mobile Association of India v. Reserve Bank of India [AIR 2021 SC 2720].

7. The learned APP for the State submitted that there are eleven accused persons, out of which four are in jail in crime committed and FIR lodged in another case. The Investigating Officer, on verification, has found that the company called ‘Oris Team Poland’, is not in existence and it is a fake company. The website of the said company appears to be fake. The fraud as of now estimated to be of Rs.17 crores and as of today, it appears that 1781 people have invested in this fraudulent company. The victims are as of today more from locality of Mumbra. It appears that an FIR has also been lodged in the area of Pimpari, Pune and also in Goa against the said company. A photograph of the applicant with his car has been obtained by the Investigating Officer which confirms that he owns a high end car ‘BMW’. The syndicate of the present accused persons appears to cheat the investors. Four of the accused are also in jail in connection with another crime. If the present applicant is granted pre-arrest bail, there is high lik