BAIL APPLN./3050/2021 of MANOJ KUMAR HOTA Vs STATE NCT OF DELHI

*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHIReserved on: 08.10.2021%Pronounced on : 22.11.2021

+BAIL APPLN. 3050/2021

MANOJ KUMAR HOTA

..... Petitioner

Through:Mr. Kamal Jindal and Mr. SharvanDev, Advocates.

versus

STATE NCT OF DELHI.... Respondent

Through:Mr. Raghuvinder Varma, APP for theState with SI Ajeet, Special Cell.

CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJNISH BHATNAGAR

ORDER

RAJNISH BHATNAGAR, J.

1.The present bail application has been filed by the petitionerunder Section 439 Cr.P.C. seeking regular bail in case FIR No. 86/2021under Sections 419/420/120B IPC registered at P.S. Special Cell.

2.Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that complaint of Sh.Subrata Viswas was received at CyPAD, wherein complainant allegedthat he was looking for job and had put his resume at Indeed Careerand other job portal.Thereafter, he received phone calls on behalfof Indeed Career job portal and they cheated the total amount of

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Rs 19,74,153/- on the pretext of registration fee for premium services,document verification fee, top management profile fee, fee to qualifyaptitude test, fee for seat reservation etc. Thereafter, on being foundcheated, complainant reported at Cyber Crime Portal and technicalenquiry was got conducted on his complaint and accordingly, thepresent case was registered and investigation went underway.

3.During investigation, on 25/03/21, raid was conducted atOffice No. 1032B, B-2, 10[th]Floor, Spaze ITech Park, Sector 49 SohnaRoad, Gurgaon, Haryana, wherein five accused persons namely ManojKumar Hota (present petitioner), Ashish Ranjan, Abhishek Kumar,Sonu Rawal, Shaik Pintu Ali were found running fake call center tocheat job seekers. After interrogation, above five accused persons werearrested in the case.

4.I have heard the Ld. counsel for the petitioner, Ld. APP for theState, perused the Status Report filed by the State and also perused therecords of this case.

5.It is submitted by the Ld. counsel for the petitioner that thecharge sheet in this case has already been filed and the petitioner is notrequired for any investigation purposes.He further submitted that allthe other 4 co-accused have already been released on bail and thepetitioner is entitled to be released on bail on the basis of parity. Hefurther submitted that there is delay in lodging the FIR as the first

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alleged incident happened on 22.02.2020, when the first allegedtransaction was done by the complainant but the FIR was got registeredonly on 24.03.2021.

6.It is further submitted by the Ld. counsel for the petitioner thatname and mobile number of the petitioner are not mentioned in the FIRand the name of the petitioner was never disclosed to the police by thecomplainant at any point of time.It is further submitted by the Ld.counsel for the petitioner that not even single penny out of the allegedcheated amount of Rs. 19,74,153/- has been deposited in the bankaccount of the petitioner. He further submitted that the FIR was lodgedagainst 13 private persons, 4 companies and 5 bank managers but theIO has neither arrested them nor charge sheeted them and falselyimplicated the petitioner.

7.It is further submitted by the Ld. counsel for the petitioner thatthe maximum punishment provided for the offences for which thepetitioner has been charged with is 7 years or less.He furthersubmitted that there is nothing on record to show that the allegedpremises from where the petitioner was running fake call centrebelonged to the petitioner. Rather, the same belonged to one co-accused who has already been released on bail.He further submittedthat the petitioner has no connection or concern with the companiesM/s Zottic Career Choice Pvt. Ltd., M/s Sandip Edu Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

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and M/s BSEPL Edu Con ( OPC) Pvt. Ltd. and the IO had deliberatelynot made those companies an accused in this case.He furthersubmitted that the petitioner is in J.C. since 25.03.2021. Ld. counselfor the petitioner has relied upon the following judgments:

(a)Bail Appln. 3967/2020 titled as Mayank Sharma Vs. The Statedecided by this Court on 19.01.2021.decided by this Court on 19.01.2021.

(b)BailAppln.3791/2020titledasSaiChandrasekharVs.Directorate of Enforcement decided by this Court on 05.03.2021.Directorate of Enforcement decided by this Court on 05.03.2021.

(c)Bail Appln. 1606/2020 titled as Ashok Panwar @ Ashok PawarVs.State (GNCT of Delhi) decided by this Court on04.08.2020.Vs.State (GNCT of Delhi) decided by this Court on04.08.2020.

(d)Criminal Appeal No(s). 755 of 2021 titled as Rekha Vs. State ofT.Nadu Tr. Sec. to Govt. & Anr decided by the Supreme Courton 05.04.2011.T.Nadu Tr. Sec. to Govt. & Anr decided by the Supreme Courton 05.04.2011.

(e)Criminal Appeal No. 733 of 2021 (arising out of SLP (Criminal )No. 4729 of 2021) titled as Banka Sneha Sheela Vs. The State ofTelangana & Ors. decided by the Supreme Court on 02.08.2021.No. 4729 of 2021) titled as Banka Sneha Sheela Vs. The State ofTelangana & Ors. decided by the Supreme Court on 02.08.2021.

8.On the other hand, it is submitted by the Ld. APP for the Statethat the allegations against the petitioner are grave and serious innature. He is the mastermind of crime syndicate involved in cheatingthat the allegations against the petitioner are grave and serious innature. He is the mastermind of crime syndicate involved in cheating

the unemployed youth and then siphoning off the cheated amount

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through complex web of dummy and shell companies. It is furthersubmitted by the Ld. APP for the State that during the raid five accusedpersons including the petitioner were arrested and they were foundrunning call centre. He further submitted that 15 mobile phones, 4laptos, 3 desktops computers and six cards were recovered from theirpossession.

9.It is further submitted by the Ld. APP for the State that petitionerwho is an MBA in HR and PH.D in Management is the kingpin of thecrime who used to supervise the work of the said call center. He furthersubmitted that 17 sim cards were recovered from his possession, allwere issued from Bhuvneshwar for committing the offence of cheatingand one PAN Card, one copy of ICICI Bank cheque of Sandip EduSolution Private Ltd, copy of PAN Card and Aadhar card of BiplabChaudhary were recovered from the laptop of petitioner alongwith 32bank cards mostly in the name of Manoj Kumar Hota (petitioner), hiswife Sunita Hota, Biplab Chaudhary and Niranjan Pradhan wererecovered from his possession which were used for transferring thecheated money from one account to another and for withdrawalpurpose.

10.It is further submitted by the Ld. APP that [REDACTED] at the instance of petitioner.He further submitted that

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BSEPL console on shine.com for the purpose of getting data of jobseekers was got opened at the instance of petitioner by entering thelogin id, password and OTP received on mobile number [REDACTED]which was registered in the name of petitioner and the said mobilephone was recovered from his possession. He further submitted thatpetitioner opened three current accounts in the name of three shellcompanies, namely, Zottic Career Choice Pvt. Ltd, Sandip EduSolution Pvt. Ltd. and BSEPL Educon (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. mentioning hisresidential address of Odisha, having mobile number [REDACTED]registered in his name and was recovered from his possession. Hefurther submitted that the complainant transferred 12,61,000/- in theaccount of BSEPL Educon (OPC) Pvt. Ltd and out of which,Rs.5,90,000/- was transferred in the account of Zottic Payment Pvt.Ltd. of which the petitioner and his wife were the Directors and Rs.43,000/- was transferred in the personal account of the petitioner.

11.It is further submitted by the Ld. APP for the State that most ofthe recovered mobile numbers are issued in the name of M/s TarudhCareer Solutions OPC Private Limited having mention of residentialaddress of petitioner.It is further submitted by the Ld. APP for thestate that the petitioner is not entitled to parity with his co-accusedpersons who have been released on bail because he is the kingpin of thecrime and the co-accused persons with whom the petitioner is seekingparity were puppets who were working at the behest of the petitioner.

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12.In the instant case, the petitioner is in J.C. since 25.03.2021. Fourco-accused have already been released on bail, who have more or lessthe same allegations.Though, the prosecution is alleging that thepetitioner is the kingpin of the entire transactions but all the other co-accused persons have also been en-roped with the help of Section 120B IPC and the same would be decided at the time of the trial.

13.In the instant case the charge sheet has already been filed, so nopurpose would be served by keeping the petitioner in J.C. for long andthe maximum punishment provided for the offence for which thepetitioner has been charged is 7 years or less. Therefore, in these factsand circumstances, the present bail application is allowed and thepetitioner is admitted to bail on his furnishing personal bond in thesum of Rs. 50,000/- with one surety of the like amount subject to thesatisfaction of the concerned Trial Court. The bail application isdisposed of accordingly.

14.Nothing stated hereinabove shall tantamount to the expression ofany opinion on the merits of this case.

RAJNISH BHATNAGAR, J

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

Sumant

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