India News | HC Grants Bail to Differently Abled Man in Cheating, Forgery Case
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to a man, accused of cheating people by alluring them to invest in a fraudulent scheme, holding that he and his wife have disability of over 75 per cent and a toddler daughter.
New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to a man, accused of cheating people by alluring them to invest in a fraudulent scheme, holding that he and his wife have disability of over 75 per cent and a toddler daughter.
While granting the relief, the high court directed that under no circumstance the man shall leave the city and that he shall join and cooperate in the probe as and when directed by the investigating officer (IO).
"He shall drop a pin on the Google maps application to indicate his location to the concerned IO/ SHO. He shall surrender his passport before the trial court. He shall not contact any witnesses in any manner or tamper with the evidence in any manner," Justice Amit Mahajan said.
A case was registered by the crime branch of Delhi Police on a complaint by a senior officer of the power ministry alleging that forged documents were received by the ministry making a claim that a firm was allowed to construct a solar power plant.
However, no such contract was awarded to any such company and documents were forged, the complaint said.
During investigation, it was found that the WhatsApp message which was received by the ministry was sent from a mobile phone having an IP address at Hong Kong and the telecom company had unlawfully issued 1700 SIM cards in connivance with a woman of Chinese origin.
The probe revealed that the fraudulent scheme in the name of production of renewable energy was being floated and people were being cheated by alluring them to invest in it.
Police said money was transferred to bank accounts of several persons and ultimately into the account of HB Group, Nagpur, whose director was accused Bablu Moreshwar Lawatre.
The man sought bail saying he was in custody since November 9 and does not have any criminal antecedents.
He said he and his wife were physically disabled to the extent of 78 per cent and 80 per cent respectively and cannot move without the help of wheelchair.
The man said since his wife was also differently-abled, it has almost become impossible for her to take care of their 18-month-old daughter alone.
The prosecutor opposed the bail plea saying the man cheated general public of Rs 1 crore and that he was arrested from the Delhi IGI Airport when he was trying to flee away from the country and at that time 55 activated SIM cards were recovered from his bag.
The high court was informed by the IO that the charge sheet was likely to be filed before the expiry of 60 days from arrest, that is, on or before January 8.
"The investigation as on today, therefore, is substantially complete," the court said, adding that the alleged money trail would be the matter of record and is documentary in nature and further investigation does not require custodial interrogation.
The high court even though, it is stated that the applicant was arrested while attempting to flying out of the country, it is not disputed that he was not arrested from the airport, but at the time of arrest, he was lodged in a hotel and the apprehension can be taken care by putting appropriate conditions.
It directed the man to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh with a surety of the like amount and added that the state is at liberty to file an application for cancellation of the bail in case he is found to be violating any of the conditions.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)