2026:CGHC:9516 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 880 of 2026 Jagmohan Bharti S/o Late Shri Muktavan Bharti Aged About 39 Years R/o House No. 208 Satnami. Para Dunda Raipur, District- Raipur (C.G.)

... Applicant versus State of Chhattisgarh Through- The Station House Officer of The Police Station-

Civil Line, Raipur District- Raipur (C.G.)

... Non-Applicant For Applicant : Mr. Rajendra Patel and Mr. Aniruddha Shrivastava, Advocate.

For Non-applicant/State : Dr. Sourabh Pandey, Deputy Advocate General.

D si i g g n it e a d l l b y y Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice PREETI PREETI KUMARI Order On Board KUMARI Date:

2026.02.25

15:51:51 24.02.2026 +0530

1. This is the First bail application filed under Section 483 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular bail to the applicant arrested in connection with Crime No. 290/2025, registered at Police Station – Civil Lines, District – Raipur (C.G.) for alleged commission of offence punishable under Sections 317(2), 317(4), 317(5), 111 and 3(5)

of BNS and Section 42(3) of Telegraph Act.

2. As per the prosecution story in brief, is that the complainant, on

26.06.2025, information received from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre Portal, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India revealed that 41 mobile SIM numbers were used to commit cyber fraud and obtain illegal funds. Based on this, the Cyber Police Station, Raipur initiated legal action. During investigation it shows that these SIM cards were used to contact victims and deceitfully induce them to transfer money, thereby causing wrongful loss to the public and unlawful gain to the accused persons. The SIMs were allegedly procured using forged documents and misused for organized cyber fraud activities. Hence, this application.

3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the present case, and there is no evidence on record to prove that the applicant is involved in the online fraud. It is further submitted that the prosecution has failed to place on record any material to show that the said mobile number belongs to, or was being used by, the applicant. There is no Subscriber Detail Record (SDR) or Customer Application Form (CAF) linking the applicant with the alleged phone number. In the absence of such primary evidence, the allegation that the applicant contacted the complainant is baseless and does not establish any direct involvement of the applicant in the alleged offence. It is further submitted that there is no any previous criminal antecedents of the applicant, and the applicant is in jail since 15.09.2025, and the trial is likely to take quite long time, hence, he prays for grant of bail.

4. On the other hand, learned State counsel opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant and submitted that complainant received information on 26.06.2025 from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre Portal, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, revealing that 41 mobile SIM numbers were used in the commission of cyber fraud to generate illegal proceeds. Acting upon the said information, the Cyber Police Station, Raipur initiated legal action. The investigation discloses that the said SIM cards were systematically used to contact unsuspecting victims and deceitfully induce them to transfer money, resulting in wrongful loss to the public and corresponding unlawful gain to the accused persons. It is further revealed that the SIM cards were procured on forged documents and were deliberately misused as part of an organized cyber fraud operation. Further, the bail application of the co-accused persons, namely, Panna Lal Sahu and Ashish Singh has already been rejected by this Court vide order dated 17.12.2025 passed in MCRC Nos. 8362/2025 and 8991/2025, respectively. Therefore, the bail application of the applicant is liable to be rejected.

5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material ava