Punjab & Haryana High Court Refuses Pre-Arrest Bail To Man Allegedly Involved In Staging Fake Court Hearing

The Punjab & Haryana High Court refused to grant anticipatory bail to a man allegedly involved in case of posing as officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and staging a fake virtual courtroom, with one of them impersonating former CJI DY Chandrachud.

Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu noted that, “instances of cyber-fraud are increasing day by day and according to the Data maintained by Reserve Bank of India, an amount of Rs.3207 crore was lost due to 582000 cases of cyber-fraud between F.Y 2020 to F.Y. 2024. Also noteworthy that during F.Y. 2023 to F.Y. 2024, an amount of Rs.2054 Crore has been lost on account of cyber-frauds in our country.”

The Court further said that in view of the above, modus operandi adopted by the petitioner as well as other co-accused regarding the alleged commission of crime is to be investigated thoroughly and for that purpose, custodial interrogation of the petitioner would be utmost necessary.

In September last year, Textile baron and Chairman of the Vardhman Group, SP Oswal had filed a complaint for being scammed by cyber criminals who orchestrated a fake Supreme Court hearing presided by a person impersonating former CJI India DY Chandrachud.

It was alleged that accused persons swindled over Rs 7 crores of Oswal after he was made to attend a fake court proceeding in a purported money laundering case where he was 'directed' to deposit funds in an account.

As per the report, Oswal informed the Punjab Police the following " They made a Skype call regarding the court hearing ...as per a Supreme Court order I was directed to release all my funds to into a secret supervision account".

The anticipatory bail was filed by one of the accused, Atanu Chaudhary in the case.

Choudhary submitted that he was falsely implicated in the case and the entries running into Rs. 25 crore in his account were done without his consent. The bank has already transferred the amount to complainant, he added.

The police stated in its reply that the accused had orchestrated a sophisticated cyber crime scheme involving the creation and dissemination of forged and fabricated documents purportedly issued by the Supreme Court, the ED and the CBI.

“These documents, which included a forged Supreme Court order and an arrest order from the ED, were used to mislead and coerce the complainant into transferring a substantial sum of Rs 7 crores to bank accounts controlled by the petitioner and his associates. The deliberate forgery of documents bearing the seal of the apex court and impersonation of the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India (CJI) during a fake virtual hearing highlight the extreme gravity of the petitioner's actions, warranting stringent action,” the police submitted.

Perusing the report filed by way of affidavit of Jasvir Singh Gill, PPS, Assistant Commissioner of Police PBI, Economic Offence and Cyber Crime, Ludhiana, Justice Sindhu noted that, “extract clearly reveals that petitioner along with other co-accused has defrauded the complainant to the tune of Rs.7.00 crore and also forged the order of Hon'ble Supreme Court. Apart that, fake arrest order purported to have been issued by E.D was also shown to the de-facto complainant and coerced him for transferring the alleged amount.”

Stating that “there is no option, except to dismiss the petition,” the Court denied the relief.

Mr. Padamkant Dwivedi, Advocate and Ms. Mansi, Advocate for the petitioner.

Ms. Manjot Kaur, AAG, Punjab assisted by Inspector Satbir Singh, P.S. Cyber Crime, Ludhiana.

Title: Atanu Chaudhary v. State of Punjab

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (PH) 89

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