The High Court of Delhi, on 9th February 2021, refused bail in a case of an alleged fraudulent career academy. The petitioner herein, Nikhil Gaurav, was one of the accused in the case, applying for bail under Sec.439 of Cr.P.C.
Background:
Crack Ur Career Private Limited was a company set up to “help” their consumers get admissions into MBBS courses. They claimed to have tie-ups with several universities and thus secure admissions into those colleges and universities. For getting this service, substantial amounts of money was paid to Crack Ur Career. When the students and their parents started demanding admission letters from colleges, the company issued fake admission letters to them. When it was found that the letters were fake, the accused (partners in the company) closed their offices and ran away with the money.
Investigation Findings:
Upon investigation it was found that when admission letters were demanded by parents and students, the accused copied formats of admission letters of different colleges and started issuing them. During the investigation, fee slips and these admission letters were seized. Bank Account details of both, the money senders and the receivers (company) were verified. Seals and stamps of various colleges were also recovered. Forged ID proofs such as Aadhar cards, PAN cards and other documents were recovered; along with some mobile phones.
The charge sheet also revealed that some of the accused were on the run. Another grave crime committed that was revealed during the investigation was that the partners, one of them being the petitioner, had committed murder of another partner.
Submissions before the Court:
The counsel for the petitioner stated that the FIR did not contain the name of the petitioner, and only that of the company. The petitioner is thus not responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the company. Since the FIR was against the company, the petitioner cannot be made vicariously liable for the affairs of the company. Further, the petitioner had been in custody for over thirteen months and thus should be released on bail.
On the other hand, the counsel for the respondent- State submitted that the petitioner was a part of a large scale conspiracy where substantial amounts of money had been taken from people for securing admission to the complainants in MBBS courses. Investigation is being carried out for the three accused in custody and other five are absconding. Further, the petitioner was accused for offences under Secs.302, 120B, 201 of IPC, for the murder of one of the directors of the company.
Decision of the Court:
Hon’ble Justice Subramonium Prasad stated, “It is well settled that the FIR is not an Encyclopaedia..”. The complainants had given the name of the company which had defrauded them. It was upon investigation that the persons were responsible for this large-scale fraud had come to light, and the charge-sheet showed the petitioner as an accused. He was also accused for murder of one of his partners. Further, the principles of the various colleges had confirmed that the admission letters and fee receipts were not issued by them, and the seals were also fake.
The bail application of the petitioner in the sessions court was also denied. Thus, keeping forward the magnitude of the offence, the bail was denied to the petitioner and the petition was thus dismissed.
Case Details: BAIL APPLN. 363/2021 & CRL.M.(BAIL) 105/2021 (Nikhil Gaurav vs Govt of NCT Delhi)
Story by Sai Kulkarni-Intern
