Arun Kumar Menon v. State of Punjab
In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana
CRM-M 42014/2019
Before Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan
Decided on October 04, 2019

Relevancy of the case: Bail application in a case involving cheating for giving national distributorship of insurance plans for mobile phones

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 406, 420)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 439)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The complainant is the director of Sahib Tradeline Private Limited. The accused persons are the representatives of Apps Daily Solution Private Limited (“Apps Daily”).
• Apps Daily representatives approached the complainant to become their national distributor for insurance plans, extended warranty, and damage protection for mobile phones. The complainant could utilise these services with the help of wallet points on the Apps Daily mobile app.
• The complainant invested ₹3.75 crores to become the national distributor. However, he only received wallet points worth ₹1.5 crores. The accused persons withheld the balance amount of ₹2.2 crores.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that all the offences are triable by a Magistrate. The police presented the challan on October 18, 2018, while they arrested him on June 27, 2019. The trial is moving very slowly, while the court has already granted bail to the co-accused.
• The complainant’s counsel submitted that there is another FIR of similar nature. Fraud on the part of the petitioner is still continuing.

Opinion of the Bench

• All the offences are triable by a Magistrate’s court. The court can grant a conditional bail to the petitioner. The prosecution can apply for the cancellation of the bail if the petitioner violates bail conditions or is found to be involved in any other case.

Final Decision

• The court accepted the petition and granted bail to the petitioner.