Nagpur: Doctor Garima Bagga, wife of Dr Gaurav Bagga, accused in the infamous Sontu Jain scam moved an application bail for anticipatory bail before the District Court Nagpur. Dr. Gaurav Bagga and Ankesh Khandelwal were remanded to police custody till 27th October 2023. The prosecution claimed that cash component of Rs. 1.35 crores and 3.20 kgs of gold came to be recovered in the search made in the house of Dr. Gaurav Bagga.
Adv. Prakash Naidu, lawyer for the Bagga couple, contended that the prosecution had registered a fresh FIR against the alleged Anant @ Sontu Jain and had slapped section 420, 409, r/w sec. 120-B of the I.P. Code against the accused persons including Dr. Garima Bagga, Dheeraj Jain, Shraddha Jain, Kusum Devi Jain, and others.
Adv. Prakash Naidu pointed out that, the complainant Vikrant Agrawal had initially lodged an FIR and contended that the complainant gave cash amount of Rs.8.50 lakhs to a person sent by Sontu. Thereafter, Sontu Jain sent a link of Diamondexch.com and also sent User ID and Password to the complainant. Accordingly, the complainant started betting by playing online game on the link suggested by Sontu.
On losing in the said betting, at the instance of Sontu, the complainant transferred Rs.9,66,86,000/- during the period from Sontu. He also handed over cash amount of Rs.67,88,68,300/- to the persons sent by Sontu. The complainant could get return back winning amount of just Rs.19,13,38,000/- and the complainant realized that he has been cheated.
Whenever he used to win, technical error would crop up and he was not getting points even after being shown that he had won on account of manipulation in the betting site suggested by Sontu Jain. Therefore, offences under Sections 386, 420, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.came to be registered against Sontu with the Cyber Police Station Sadar.
The prosecution’s calaimed to have searched the premises of Anant Jain and a cash component of more than Rs. 16 crores and golden bricks worth more than 10 crores and details of a few immovable properties were seized.
Adv Prakash Naidu contended that after Anant @ Sontu Jain came to be arrested, based on his confession, the police officials of Gittikhadan Nagpur suo moto registered an FIR through Madhuri Nerkar, Assistant Police Inspector for the offence under section 420, 409 and 120-B of the I.P. Code against the Doctor Bagga couple and the manager of the bank and others.
Adv. Naidu argued that, going by the version of the prosecution, and assuming the contention of the prosecution to be true and correct, but not admitting the same, the prosecution has alleged that the investigating machinery had issued a letter to the Manager, Axis Bank, Gondia, Ankesh Khandelwal on 23/07/2023 and informed him that the bank accounts and lockers standing in the name of Anant @ Sontu Jain and his family members be freezed. Thereafter the police hasgone to the bank and could not trace anything in the lockers of the accused Sontu Jain and his Family members. Subsequent to the arrest of Sontu Jain in the crime registered with Sadar Cyber Police Station, police claim to have retracted the deleted call recordings from his phone and on careful inspection of the same, it transpired to the police officials that despite having been communicated with the letter to freeze the lockers of Sontu Jain and his Family, the manager Ankesh had talks with Sontu Jain and had informed him about the freezing letter sent by police in response thereto it was decided that fresh lockers would be opened in the same bank in the name of Gaurav and Garima Bagga before the police reaches the bank and the cash and golden ornaments from the l;ockerts of Sontu Jain and his family would be transferred to the locker of Bagga couple.
Prosecution has claimed that from the said recordings, it has also transpired that the Manager was to be given 4 crores by Sontu Jain. As such, it is alleged that from the said recordings it transpired that Dr Gaurav Bagga and the Manager in connivance with each other and Sontu Jain proceeded to transfer 4 biscuits of gold weighing approx 400 gram costing approx 22 lacs, 9 biscuits of gold weighing total 450 gms costing approx 24,75,000/- , and 38,16,000 cash totaling Rs 84,91,000 and other items were shifted by the Manager Khandelwal and Dr. Gaurav Bagga in the lockers of the Bagga Couple. This the prosecution claim to have confirmed from the call recordings between Sontu Jain and the Manager Khandelwal. The prosecution also claimed that it had been confirmed through the recordings that Sontu Jain did not hand over the assured 4 crores to Khandelwal as promised to perform the task of shifting the lockers. As against this, the prosecution are escalating the matter by hoaxing false claims in the media as against the FIR and in the media are contending that cash and gold worth 12 crores was siphoned off, which is falsified on perusal of their own FIR.
Based on these aspects, the police machinery proceeded to search the house of the doctor couple and they recovered 1.35 crores and gold weighing 3.02 kgs. Refuting the prayer of the prosecution, Adv Prakash Naidu argued that, the sections as had been slapped against the accused persons were not at all in consonance with the facts and were not attracted, since, neither had the accused persons cheated or dishonestly induced any person to deliver any property or valuable security and as such, 420 of the I.P.Code was not maintainable against the accused persons.
Likewise, in order to invoke the provisions of 409, the prosecution has to make out a case that the accused persons had been entrusted with the property or with any dominion over the property in his capacity of a public servant and had committed criminal breach of trust in respect of that property. As such, it was argued that, neither did the property belong to the police authorities and it is not the case that the doctor couple and the manager had cheated Sontu Jain. At the most, the Manager and Gaurav Bagga can be slapped with section 188 of the I.P.Code for deliberate disobedience of the order so issued by the police officer to freeze the bank accounts and lockers of Sontu Jain and the said offence was a bailable offence. Likewise, it is not the case of the prosecution that the Bagga couple were aware of the fact that the said money and gold was involved in any crime and that whatever was done by Dr Gaurav Bagga was an act committed out of friendship and not with a mens rea to commit any offence.
Adv Naidu contended that Garima Bagga is a highly educated lady, having completed her MBBS, MD (OBS and Gynac), Post Graduate Masterate Degree in Diploma of National Board of Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery ( Laparoscopy) and had secured 5th Rank in Maharashtra Public Service Commission Exam for the post of Assistant Professor and is presently promoted as Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynac at the Government Medical Hospital, Gondia and is a mother of a 5 year old daughter. Likewise, it has been contended that she has absolutely no role in the commission of the alleged offence and deserves to be granted bailAs such, it was pleaded that the accused are innocent.
The court has put the state to notice and has fixed the matter on 26th. Adv. Prakash Naidu, Mayank Gupta, Homesh Chauhan, Mitesh Bais, Surabhi Godbole Naidu represented the accused.
