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Hemant Kumar Meena vs State Of Haryana

Punjab-Haryana High Court9 March 2026

Ratio decidendi

The rule this decision rests on

Where an anticipatory bail petition under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 involves allegations of serious cyber fraud with a substantial amount, and the investigation reveals prima facie material indicating the petitioner's active involvement in arranging and operating bank accounts used for depositing and routing the defrauded money, the court may refuse anticipatory bail even where the petitioner is not named in the FIR, on the grounds that custodial interrogation appears necessary to unearth the larger conspiracy and trace the flow of defrauded money. A plea of parity with co-accused persons who have been granted bail does not succeed where the role attributed to the petitioner is distinguishable by virtue of a more active and direct involvement in managing the accounts and facilitating illegal transactions, whereas other accused were assigned comparatively limited roles.

Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.

Judgment

As delivered

CRM-M-62501-2025 (O&M) 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANAAT CHANDIGARH

CRM-M-62501-2025 (O&M) Date of decision: 09.03.2026

Hemant Kumar Meena ..Petitioner Versus State of Haryana ..Respondent

CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANDEEP PANNU

Present: Mr. Akshay Laller, Advocate for the petitioner

Mr. Sushil Bhardwaj, Addl. AG, Haryana

MANDEEP PANNU, J.

CRM-44453-2025

Allowed as prayed for.

Main case

This is the first petition under Section 482 of the

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (earlier Section 438

Cr.P.C.) for the grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner in case FIR

No. 15 dated 13.03.2024, registered under Sections 406, 420, 467,

468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code at Police Station Cyber

Crime, District Panchkula.

Briefly stated, the present FIR was registered at Police

Station Cyber Crime, Panchkula on the basis of the statement of

complainant Gagan Anand alleging commission of offences under

Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B IPC. As per the case of

the petitioner, he has been falsely implicated in the present case and is

not named in the FIR. It is alleged that the prosecution has linked the

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occurrence with a Wi-Fi connection allegedly used in the commission

of the offence, however, there is no direct evidence connecting the

petitioner with the alleged crime. The petitioner has no relationship or

dealings with the complainant and has been implicated merely on the

basis of the internet connection, which is accessible to multiple users.

Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the

petitioner is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present

case. It is submitted that the petitioner is not named in the FIR and his

name surfaced only in the disclosure statement of co-accused Jai

Prakash, which by itself has no evidentiary value in the eyes of law. It

is further argued that there is no direct or indirect evidence connecting

the petitioner with the commission of the alleged offences and no

amount from the alleged fraud has been credited into any bank

account of the petitioner. The petitioner is neither an employee of the

Bank nor of the telecom company allegedly involved in the fraud and,

therefore, the ingredients of offences under Sections 406, 420, 467,

468, 471 and 120-B IPC are not made out against him. Learned

counsel further submits that nothing is to be recovered from the

petitioner and his custodial interrogation is not required as he is ready

and willing to join the investigation and cooperate with the

investigating agency. It is also argued that the co-accused, including

Vandana Pokharel, Latuer Singh Meena, Jai Prakash, Vikas Kumar

Meena, Bharat Pareek and Sunil Sharma, have already been granted

the concession of bail by the competent courts and the case of the

present petitioner stands on a better footing, thus entitling him to the

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benefit of parity. It is further submitted that except for the disclosure

statement of the co-accused, there is no material connecting the

petitioner with the alleged occurrence and such disclosure statement is

inadmissible in evidence being hit by Section 27 of the Indian

Evidence Act, 1872. Learned counsel lastly submits that the petitioner

undertakes to abide by all the conditions that may be imposed by this

Court and shall not misuse the concession of anticipatory bail.

Learned State counsel has opposed the present petition

and submits that the allegations against the petitioner are serious in

nature and involve a well-planned cyber fraud causing wrongful loss

to the complainant to the tune of about ₹73 lakhs. It is contended that

during investigation it was revealed that the fraud amount was

transferred from the complainant's account into the bank account of

co-accused Latuer Singh Meena and thereafter, routed through various

accounts opened and operated by the accused persons. It is further

submitted that during investigation various documents including CDR

details, bank statements and IP logs were collected and examined. Co-

accused persons namely Lateur Singh Meena, Sunil Sharma, Bharat

Pareek, Jai Prakash and Vikas Kumar Meena were joined in the

investigation and their disclosure statements were recorded. As per the

disclosure statement of co-accused Jai Prakash and others, the present

petitioner-Hemant Kumar Meena along with other accused persons

had dishonestly opened bank accounts, arranged bank kits and

facilitated the deposit and withdrawal of the cheated amount. It is

further submitted that the petitioner played an active role in operating

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the accounts and depositing the fraud amount after alluring account

holders with commission. Learned State counsel further submits that

the investigation in the present case is still at a crucial stage and

certain recoveries including bank kits and other material are yet to be

effected from the petitioner. It is also argued that the petitioner is

technically well-versed and there is every possibility that he may

tamper with electronic evidence or influence witnesses if granted the

concession of anticipatory bail. It is further contended that the

petitioner has earlier approached the learned Additional Sessions

Judge, Panchkula for grant of anticipatory bail, which was dismissed

vide order dated 31.10.2025 after considering the prima facie

evidence against him. It is also submitted that two other FIRs have

been registered against the petitioner i.e FIR No.5/2020 under

Sections 384, 354(D), 509, 34 IPC and Section 67 IT, Act at Police

Station Surajpol, District Udaipur, Rajasthan and FIR No.2 dated

01.08.2022 under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC and Sections

66(C), 66(D), 55 D of the IT Act, at Police Station Cyber, Sonipat.

After hearing learned counsel for the parties and going

through the record, this Court is of the considered view that no case

for grant of anticipatory bail is made out. The allegations in the

present case pertain to a serious cyber fraud involving a substantial

amount of about ₹73 lakhs. The material collected during

investigation prima facie indicates that the petitioner was actively

involved in the conspiracy whereby bank accounts were arranged and

used for depositing and routing the fraud amount. The disclosure

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statements of co-accused persons reveal that the petitioner along with

other accused persons had dishonestly opened and operated bank

accounts and utilized ATM cards, cheque books and bank kits for

transferring the cheated amount. The investigation further indicates

that certain bank kits and other incriminating material are yet to be

recovered from the petitioner and his custodial interrogation appears

necessary to unearth the larger conspiracy and trace the flow of the

defrauded money. The plea of parity raised by the petitioner also does

not advance his case as the role attributed to the present petitioner is

distinguishable from that of other co-accused who have been granted

bail. The material on record suggests that the petitioner had a more

active and direct role in managing the accounts used for depositing the

fraud amount and facilitating the illegal transactions, whereas the

other accused who have been granted bail were assigned

comparatively limited roles. Considering the gravity of the

allegations, the nature of the offence, the role attributed to the

petitioner and the requirement of custodial interrogation for effective

investigation, this Court finds no ground to extend the extraordinary

relief of anticipatory bail to the petitioner. Consequently, the present

petition seeking anticipatory bail is hereby dismissed.

All the pending miscellaneous applications, if any, are

also disposed of.

09.03.2026 (MANDEEP PANNU) rekha JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No

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