Cyber fraud: Mumbai court acquits man, says mere bank credit of money doesn't prove guilt

Mumbai: A Mumbai court has acquitted a Jharkhand resident in a cyber fraud case, ruling that mere crediting of a defrauded amount into a person's bank account, without proof of a criminal conspiracy, does not constitute a criminal offence.

Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Girgaon court, S G Chimankar, in a verdict delivered last week, acquitted Manoj Kisku (23), giving him the benefit of doubt as the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Mere crediting of any amount in the bank account of the accused without the evidence of any criminal conspiracy with the main accused does not constitute any offence," the magistrate remarked.

"In the instant case, it appears that the informant had caused wrongful loss, and on the other hand, the accused had caused wrongful gain in respect of the transfer of the amount, thereby constituting civil liability, and doesn't constitute any criminal offence against the accused under these circumstances," the court added.

According to the prosecution, the informant police officer, Priyanka Hanumant Pawar, received an SMS on February 26, 2022, asking her to update her PAN card to keep her HDFC bank account active.

After she clicked a link provided in the message and submitted her details on a fake website, an amount of Rs 99,986 was transferred from her account, the police said.

She subsequently received a phone call from an individual demanding an OTP. After she shared the password, Rs 2,99,970 was debited from her account.

During the investigation, police found that the mobile numbers used to send the SMS and make the fraudulent call were registered under the name of Rauf Ansari, based in Jamtara, Jharkhand.

The police traced a portion of the siphoned money, amounting to Rs 99,986, to Kisku’s bank account.

He was arrested on March 17, 2023, under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) and 467 (forgery of valuable security) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Information Technology Act. He was later released on bail in October 2023.

Advocate Amol Thomare, appearing for the accused, argued that the prosecution has failed to arrest the main accused, Ansari, who directly communicated with and deceived the informant.

The defence submitted that the prosecution failed to bring on record any evidence showing a connection, communication, or criminal conspiracy between Kisku and Ansari.

The court, after appreciating the evidence on record, noted that while the prosecution established the fraudulent transfer of money from the informant's account, it completely failed to show that Kisku sent the fraudulent texts or links.

The magistrate highlighted that the police had neither arrested the prime suspect, Ansari, in whose name the mobile connection was registered, nor produced any circumstantial or direct evidence proving a criminal conspiracy between Kisku and Ansari.

"Considering overall evidence available on record, it does not reflect any involvement of the accused in the commission of the offence or any criminal conspiracy in respect of the offence," the court ruled.