IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: 07.04.2026 MANPREET SINGH ......Petitioner VERSUS STATE OF PUNJAB .......Respondent CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD S. BHARDWAJ *****

Present: - Mr. Rajnish Gupta, Advocate for the petitioner.

Dr. (Ms.) Savi Nagpal, Asst. A.G. Punjab.

Mr. Dhiraj Jindal, Advocate for the complainant.

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VINOD S. BHARDWAJ, J. (Oral)

CRM-15009-2026 Application is allowed as prayed for and Annexures P-7 to P-10 are taken on record.

CRM-M-58745-2025 The present first petition has been filed under Section 482 of BNSS, 2023 seeking grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner in case bearing FIR No. 222 dated 17.09.2025 registered under Section 420 IPC and 13 of Punjab Travel Professionals (regulations) Act, 2014 at Police Station, Lehra, District Sangrur.

2. The FIR in the present case has been registered on the complaint of one Mohan Singh son of Hardam Singh, resident of Jaloor, Tehsil Lehra, District Sangrur which reads thus:-

“It is submitted that I, Mohan Singh, son of Hardam Singh, resident of Jaloor, Tehsil Lehra, District Sangrur, am a resident of the said village. My in-laws are residents of Bhutal Kalan. My brother Balwinder Singh wanted to go abroad. I met the above-named accused as he was from my in-laws' village. When he came to know that my brother wanted to go abroad, he contacted me and said that he would send my brother to America through "danki" (illegal route). I and my brother believed him and agreed.

Then around April 2024, the said person came to my house and said that the expenditure would be Rs. 40 lakhs, and that we should arrange the money. Then on 06/05/2024, this person came to our house, and we gave him Rs. 6 lakhs in cash. He said that first he would send Balwinder Singh to El Salvador and then from the Mexico border directly to America. He took this money from us for that purpose. Then on 20/05/2024, he again said that more money was required for expenses. Thereafter, on 24/05/2024, we deposited Rs.13 lakhs into the account of Manpreet Singh. They said that your visa would come soon and took my brother's passport. After that, we kept waiting for the response, expecting that the visa would come soon.

When we later spoke to them, they started making excuses and said that the visa had been applied for, but due to elections in America, the situation was strict and they could not send him right now. They assured us that they would soon get the work done. We believed them and remained silent. Months passed by, and then in November 2024, they told us that the work was done. They said that your visa had come and also gave us a color photocopy of the visa, saying that the original visa would be given when you are about to leave and after paying the remaining amount (copy attached).

At that time, they also returned our passport so that we could trust them. At that time, they took another Rs. 3 lakhs from us, saying we should arrange the remaining money. After that, we started arranging the balance amount. Later, we came to know that these persons had quarreled with someone earlier also. We held panchayats several times and told them that they had cheated us and asked for our money back, but they kept delaying and saying that due to Trump's government, the situation had become strict and to wait a little more.

When we got the visa checked, it was found to be fake. When we contacted them, they said that we were mistaken and the visa was genuine. Even then, we believed them and, fearing people's taunts, remained silent. But after some time, we became sure that the visa was fake. Now we have no hope from them and are certain that they have cheated us.

Therefore, it is requested that a case be registered against these two brothers, for cheating us, and action be taken under Sections 318(4), 316(2), and 61 BNS, and they be punished accordingly.”

3. Learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner contends that the present FIR is a counter blast which has been lodged a