Rajni Gulati v. State of Punjab
In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana
CRM-M-16216/2016 (O&M)
Before Justice Jitendra Chauhan
Decided on September 27, 2016

Relevancy of the case: Anticipatory bail application in a case registered under Sections 66, 66C, and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66, 66C, 66D)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 419, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120B)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 438)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• It was alleged that the petitioners, being bank officials, had permitted the operation of accounts of the deceased person and huge amounts were transferred from the account, causing gain to the accused and loss to the estate of deceased persons.
• The principal accused was operating all their accounts including ATM/Debit Card and Internet Banking and had always come with cheques containing correct signatures of the deceased persons.
• Transactions were permitted since the signatures on the presented documents matched with the specimen signatures in the system and the bank authorities did not know about the death of the deceased persons.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that in pursuance of the order that had been passed by the Court, the petitioners have joined the investigation and they are not required for custodial interrogation.
• The respondent’s counsel, while opposing the petition, contended that the fraud has been committed with the active connivance of the petitioners.

Opinion of the Bench

• It was believed that the entire action of the bank officials was bona fide and no offence was made out since the bank authorities were not aware of the death of the two persons.

Final Decision

• Petition allowed.
• Anticipatory bail granted.

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.