$~91 & 92 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of Decision: 01.04.2026 + BAIL APPLN. 1257/2026, CRL.M.A. 9888/2026 &

CRL.M.A. 9889/2026 SUMAN LATA SHARMA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. V.K. Mishra, Mr. Vinit Kumar Dubey & Irshad A.

Siddiqui, Advocates versus STATE (GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI) .....Respondent Through: Mr. Manoj Pant, APP for the State.

(92)

+ BAIL APPLN. 1261/2026, CRL.M.A. 9896/2026 &

CRL.M.A. 9897/2026 LOKESH SHARMA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. V.K. Mishra, Mr. Vinit Kumar Dubey & Irshad A.

Siddiqui, Advocates versus STATE (GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI) .....Respondent Through: Mr. Manoj Pant, APP for the State.

CORAM:

HON’BLE DR. JUSTICE SWARANA KANTA SHARMA

JUDGMENT

DR. SWARANA KANTA SHARMA, J. (Oral

1. By way of the present applications, the applicants are seeking grant of anticipatory bail in case arising out of FIR bearing no. 39/2025, registered at Police Station Cyber Crime, Outer North, Delhi, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 308/318(4)/319/340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (hereafter ‘BNS’).

2. Issue notice. The learned APP accepts notice on behalf of the State.

3. Briefly stated, the present FIR was registered on the complaint of one Nitin, aged about 18 years, resident of Bhalswa Dairy, Delhi, alleging that he had come into contact with an Instagram user with the ID “neha-official-007”, who was posing as a female. It is alleged that after several days of conversation, the complainant was induced to participate in online gaming through a website named “Sugo”, where he was promised monetary gains. The complainant was instructed to deposit money in order to play the games and received payment instructions through WhatsApp from two mobile numbers, i.e. 7983300590 (saved as “SB”) and 8881976052 (saved as “Virat Bhai”). Multiple QR codes and bank account details were allegedly shared with him for making the payments. It is further alleged that the complainant transferred money through the said QR codes and bank accounts. Although the complainant was shown to have won certain amounts while playing the games, he was unable to withdraw the money from the website. Upon raising queries, the alleged fraudsters reportedly demanded further deposits to enable withdrawal. The complainant thereafter sought the help of a neighbourhood shopkeeper to transfer additional money, and in this manner a total amount of ₹1,92,600/- is stated to have been cheated from him.

4. During investigation, scrutiny of bank account No. 9550466151 maintained with Kotak Mahindra Bank (Layer-1) revealed that an amount of ₹54,000/- was deposited by the complainant on 09.12.2025, which was subsequently transferred on the same day to bank account no. 5449030731 (Layer-2). On obtaining the KYC and account opening documents, it was revealed that the bank account no. 5449030731 is registered in the name of Manu Dream Hub Private Limited, having its office at Sector-49, Gurgaon, Haryana, and the proprietors of the said company are Lokesh Sharma and Suman Lata Sharma, i.e. the applicants herein.

5. The learned counsel appearing for the applicants submits that the alleged amount of ₹1,92,600/- was not directly transferred to the bank account of the applicants; rather, the amount was routed through different bank accounts and only about ₹53,500/- is alleged to have been received in the bank account of the applicants‟ company. It is further submitted that neither the contact number nor the bank account details of the applicants are mentioned in the FIR as being involved in the alleged offence. It is stated the complainant was allegedly induced to transfer money by one „Virat‟ and another unknown person through WhatsApp, and the applicants had no role in the commission of the alleged offence. It is also submitted that the matter has been amicably settled between the applicants and the complainant, and the applicants are willing to return the amount of ₹1,92,600/- which, according to them, came into their bank account due to a technical