2026:CGHC:6904 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 1075 of 2026

1 - Rahul Sahu S/o Ramesh Sahu Aged About 22 Years R/o Gautam Nagar Ward No. 36, House No. 133, Sector 11, Zonel Khursipar Bhilai, District Durg, Chhattisgarh. ... Applicant versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station Devendra Nagar, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

... Respondent For Applicant : Mr. Mayank Mulchandani, Advocate For Respondent/State : Ms. Supriya Upasane, Government Advocate Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, J.

Order on Board

06.02.2026

1. This is first bail application seeking grant of bail to the Applicant who is in jail since 25.04.2025 in connection with Crime No.73/2025 registered at Police Station Devendra Nagar, Raipur, District Raipur for the offence punishable under Sections 4(K) of Gambling Act, Section 7 of Chhattisgarh Gambling Prohibition Act, 25(C) of Telegraph Act, 1885 and Sections 318(4), 61(2), 112(2) of BNS, 2023.

2. The prosecution’s case in brief is that, on 13.04.2025, the police of Devendra Nagar, Raipur, received secret information that the co-accused Nikhil Wadhwani is engaged in online gambling. They conducted a raid and arrested Nikhil Wadhwani, who disclosed that he is engaged in playing online Digitally signed by ANGARE Date:

2026.02.09 +0530 gambling through the “Rajveer online book” through his mobile Nos. 7987974436 and +94725211590. On being interrogation, he also disclosed the mobile numbers of others who are connected through other states of the country, i.e. 6263232022, 6238190441, 9669096065 and 7997009800. Based on the information, the police conducted raid at Ashiyana Apartment, Kolkata (W.B.) and arrested Pankaj Waswani, Dipanshu Gupta, Prateek Soni, Sandeep Amrani, Ankush Mishra and Roshan Kumar Thakur. From Tulsi Apartment, Kolkata (W.B.), they have arrested Ravi Sajnani and Taju Masih. From Mahendri Apartment, Beltola, Guwahati (Assam), they have arrested Kushal Sahu, Jeet Singh, Sujal Ruprela, Anurag Daharia, Hardeep Singh and Bhanupratap Singh Rajput. From Rajpur Road, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), they have arrested Rahul Sahu @ Bhari, Anand Kumar Das, Divya Chandrawanshi, Toshan Dewangan, Devesh Kumar and Sameer Singh Thakur. From Devendra Nagar, Raipur, they have arrested Saif Ali @ sobu. All of them were engaged in online betting apps and gambling. There are 23 accused persons arrested, and some are still absconding.

3. Learned Counsel for the applicant would submit that except seizure of mobile phone and laptop, no other incriminating articles have been seized from the present applicant. Even there is no report from that mobile phone and laptop of the applicant that he is involved in the offence in any manner. There is no collusion with other accused persons. He has been made accused on the basis of memorandum statement of other accused persons. The applicant is in jail since 25.04.2025. The two accused persons have been granted bail by the Supreme Court vide order dated 01.12.2025 in SLP(Cr.)No.16447 of 2025, therefore, the applicant may also be released on bail as final adjudication of the case may take sometime.

4. On the other hand the counsel for the State opposes the bail application and have submitted that from the applicant one laptop and seven mobile phones have been seized. The bail applications of other co-accused persons have been rejected by this court vide order dated 17.09.2025 in MCrC No.6352 of 2025, 6390 of 2025, 6366 of 2025 and 6357 of 2025. Second bail application of 13 co-accused persons have been rejected by this court on 20.01.2026 passed in MCrC No.680 of 2026. Second Bail application of accused Divy Chandravanshi has also been rejected on 14.01.2026 in MCrC No.510 of

2026. Therefore, the applicant is not entitled for bail.

5. I have heard the counsel appearing for the parties and perused the case diary.

6. Considering the submissions made by the counsel for the parties, considering the nature of allegations and also considering the fact that the from t