Nicky War v. State of Meghalaya
In the High Court of Meghalaya
B.A. 26/2017
Before Justice Dinesh Maheshwari
Decided on October 16, 2017

Relevancy of the case: Bail application for running a call centre suspected of cheating American nationals

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66D)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 34, 417, 419, 420)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 439)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The concerned authorities after receiving a tip-off regarding a wide-ranging scam, where certain persons were cheating the American nationals and extracting money by personating as Internal Revenue Service agents through the facilities of a Call Centre, were able to unearth the fraudulent dealings and apprehended several persons related with the alleged fraud call centre called IFA.
• The petitioner was alleged to be the owner of the Call Centre in question and was running the racket with several other persons.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the premises in question were taken on rent by the petitioner for running a call centre on a monthly rental basis and for this business, necessary permissions were obtained from the concerned authorities. The establishment was duly registered with the concerned Deputy Labour Commissioner. The petitioner was merely receiving a meagre amount as license fees and was not actively participating in the business and hence, he is not connected with the offences in question and no purpose would be served by detaining him any further. He further placed the copies for previous orders before the court and submitted that the nature of allegations against the petitioner is similar to those who have already been granted bail.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the rackets unearthed in this matter are of wide import and implication, and releasing the petitioner may hamper the investigation.

Final Decision

• Application allowed.
• Bail granted subject to certain conditions.

This case summary has been prepared by Ria Verma, an undergraduate student at Symbiosis Law School, Noida, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.