Chattisgarh High Court
Satish Chandrakar S/O Late Goverdhan … vs State Of Chhattisgarh on 24 January, 2025
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2025:CGHC:4581
NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
MCRC No. 7387 of 2024
Order reserved on 29/11/2024
Order delivered on 24/01/2025
Satish Chandrakar S/o Late Goverdhan Chandrakar R/o Flat No. 604 A-
Block Wallfort Heights Bhantagaon District - Raigarh (C.G.)
... Applicant
versus
State Of Chhattisgarh Through Additional Superintendent Of Police
Economic Offence Wing Anti Corruption Bureau District - Raipur (C.G.)
... Respondent
(Cause title taken from Case Information System)
For Applicant : Mr. Rajeev Shrivastava, Senior Advocate
along with Mr. Gagan Tiwari, Advocate
For Respondent/State : Dr. Saurabh Kumar Pande, Deputy A.G.
and Mr. Mayur Khandelwal, Panel Lawyer
Hon’ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal
C.A.V. Order
1. This is the first bail application filed by the applicant under Section
483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular
bail to the applicant who has been arrested on 25.04.2024 for the
offence under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 201, 120-B of IPC,
Digitally
signed by
VEDPRAKASH
DEWANGAN Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and
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Sections 4, 7, 8 and 11 of the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition)
Act, 2022 and Section 4A of Public Gambling Act, registered at
Economic Offence Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau, Raipur,
Chhattisgarh, in Crime No. 6 of 2024.
2. The prosecution case in brief is that, an FIR of Crime No. 112/2022
registered on 29.07.2022 at Police Station Mohan Nagar, Durg (C.G.)
under Section 4A of the Public Gambling (C.G. Amendment) Act,
1976, which was registered against five accused persons, namely,
Alok Singh Rajput, Rampravesh Sahu, Kharag @ Raja Singh,
Abhishek and Pintu, under Section 4A of the Public Gambling (C.G.
Amendment) Act, 1976 and Section 420, 120B of the IPC and also
for Section 66D of Information Technology Act, 2000. The
Enforcement Directorate had registered the Enforcement Case
Information Report (hereinafter referred as ‘ECIR’) No.
RPZ0/10/2022. On the secret information gathered by the officers of
the ED, the raid was conducted on the premises of the accused
persons in which it was found that a set with a laptop and they were
collecting money by creating online IDs and through the said IDs they
were placing bets for others through Mahadev Book, on Online
cricket matches, horse racing. greyhound racing, kabaddi etc. Upon
interrogation, the accused persons disclosed the names of two
persons namely Abhishek and Pintu who taught them to procedure of
creating the IDs and placing bets in various sports through the
Mahadev Book. Initially, treating the FIR No. 112/2022 of P.S. Mohan
Nagar, Durg and final report dated 29.07.2022 as scheduled/
predicate offence, the respondent ED registered the ECIR No.
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RPZO/09/2022 which was renumbered as ECIR No. RPZ0/10/2022
vide corrigendum dated 07.11.2022 issued by the ED.
*******In the said ECIR, FIR No. 206/2023 dated 02.06.2023
registered at P.S. Cyber Crime Vishakhapatnam Commissionerate,
Andhra Pradesh, FIR No. 37/2023 registered at P.S. Bhilai Bhatti,
District Durg (C.G.), FIR No. 86/2023 dated 27.02.2023 registered at
P.S. Chhawani, District Durg (C.G.), FIR No. 336/2023 dated
10.08.2023 registered at P.S. Gudhiyari, District Raipur (C.G.), FIR
No. 685/2023 dated 11.08.2023 registered at P.S. Khamtarai, District
Raipur (C.G.), FIR No. 6/2024 dated 04.03.2024 registered at EOW,
Raipur (C.G.) and FIR No. 206/2020 dated 24.09.2020 registered at
P.S. Burtola, Kolkata, West Bengal, have been included in the said
ECIR.
*******On 20.10.2023, the ED filed its first prosecution complaint
against 14 accused persons, alleging that the online gambling app in
the name of Mahadev Online Book is established for illegal betting in
different live games like; poker, card games, chance games, betting
on cricket, badminton, tennis, football, etc. and also to provide facility
for playing several card games like; teen patti, dragon tiger, virtual
cricket games using cards, etc. It is also alleged that the Mahadev
Online Book advertised about these betting websites through closed
WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages.
*******During the investigation conducted by the ED, it comes in the
investigation that the promoters of the Mahadev Online Book, namely
Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, were running the said illegal
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betting app through online mode and the tentacles of the online
betting app have been spread wide enough and the promoters
created a system of franchising the panels for illegal online betting
app within the Indian territory as well as at abroad. The betting app is
operated by various panel/branches, which are sold in a small
franchise by the promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal
through their associates. An elaborate system to receive incoming
money from the betting user and also to pay them back as winning
amount has been created in a well planned manner. They created a
system that the betting user cannot directly pay money on the
website and they need to contact on WhatsApp and deposit money
into bank accounts in India, which have been obtained by the panel
operators/promoters by way of deceiving and cheating the peoples.
All centres will tag him with a panel, which will share the bank
account details and create the user ID, allocate points/tokens etc.
The promoters keep nearly 70-75% of the profit of the panel
operations. A panel has an owner and workers who are usually four
in numbers. One person can own multiple panels and there was no
bar on number of panels being operated by one person. The head
office is at Dubai who creates ID and password for the panel owners.
The panel operator using the IDs can further create sub-IDs for
player/punters. The IDs are generally created on multiple websites as
depicted on the app of Mahadev online book. After receiving the
details of panel, the players/punters deposit the minimum amount of
Rs.100/- for online betting with no maximum amount. All the games
are rigged in a manner that overall, the panel owners will not lose
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money. During the investigation, multiple panel operators were
raided, who were working under the Mahadev online book and it
came on record that the said betting syndicate was generating
proceeds of crime worth Rs. 450 crores per month through the panel
operations. It also came in the investigation that Sourabh Chandrakar
and Ravi Uppal in the entire investigation to be the kingpin of the
betting empire and indulge in money laundering with their associates.
In the investigation, it also come that the said panel operations was
running with active support and connivance of local police and
politicians and after receiving illegal gratification, they supported the
said illegal betting racket by closing their eyes. It also come that one
ASI Chandrabhushan Verma who acted as Liaisoner for the
Mahadev online book promoters with political executives of the
Chhattisgarh State, who negotiated between them. He was collecting
Hawala payments made available by the promoters of Mahadev book
and distributing the same to the bureaucrats/politicians for ensuring
smooth operations of the illegal betting websites. The funds have
moved in and out of India to Dubai through various channels.
Involvement of a number of persons were found during the
investigation including the persons who engaged in layering the
proceeds of crime.
*******The ED, during the investigation also caught hold the Hawala
kings namely Anil Kumar Dammani and Sunil Kumar Dammani. The
proceeds of crime generated by the main promoters are being
layered and invested in order to acquire assets abroad. Large
expenditure in cash is also being done in India for advertising the
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betting websites to attract new users and franchises. During the
investigation, raids/searches were conducted at various places
through which the associates of promoters of Mahadev online book,
individuals associated with them, event organizers, panel operators
working on commission basis for Mahadev online book, family of the
promoters of Mahadev online book, Hawala operators. A huge
amount was seized and frozen during the searches.
*******During the investigation, it is also unveiled that ASI
Chandrabhushan Verma was having role of Chief Liaisoner for
Mahadev betting app in Chhattisgarh, Satish Chandrakar was
operating Mahadev panel and distributing funds at the behest of Ravi
Uppal, Anil Dammani and Sunil Dammani were knowingly distributing
funds for Mahadev betting app, Bheem Singh and Aseem Das were
involved in delivery of the Liaisoning money, Nitin Tibrewal was
engaged in layering the proceeds of crime through his foreign entities
and generation of illegal betting earning through sky exchange, Amit
Agrawal for layering the betting earning in land transaction and Nitish
Diwan for being involved in the betting operations and assisting the
main promoters of Mahadev online book in their money laundering
activities.
*******During the investigation the involvement of the present
applicant is also found that he had played an active role in laundering
of proceeds of crime generated out of illegal operations of Mahadev
online book. He was holding assets in his name which was acquired
by the benefits of Mahadev online book. He was fully aware of the
illegal operations of Mahadev online book and despite that he was
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holding bank accounts and operating these bank accounts for routing
funds. During the investigation, the mobile phones of the present
applicant was seized from which various information was extracted.
*******On 01.03.2024, the Enforcement Directorate have shared the
information to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Economic
Offence Wing and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Raipur, Chhattisgarh
under the provisions of Section 66(2) of the PMLA-2002 and
disclosed the information about the ECIR No. RPZO/10/2022 and
subsequent complaint filed by it. In the said information, it has been
disclosed that the Mahadev online book has been running for illegal
betting in different live games like poker, card games, etc. and the
promoters of the Mahadev online betting app is regulating the said
app from its head office at Dubai. The promoters have given
franchisee of the said online betting app to various panel operators to
manage the business on day-to-day basis. Along with the
information, the ED annexed the documents available to them with
respect to the involvement of the accused persons in the Mahadev
online betting app.
*******On the basis of letter dated 01.03.2024, the EOW/ACB
registered an FIR under the Crime No. 6/2024 on 04.03.2024 for the
offence under Sections 120-B, 34, 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 of IPC,
Sections 7 and 11 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as
amended by amendment of the year 2018), in which the present
applicant has been named along with other accused persons. During
the investigation, it was found that the present applicant Satish
Chandrakar was actively associated with Chandrabhushan Verma
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and Ravi Uppal, who is the Director of Mahadev Book. The present
applicant obtained 04 panels and got them operated through his
associates on commission. He was in regular touch with Ravi Uppal
and he invested the proceeds of crime/illegal money in property
either in his own name or in the name of his family members. It also
reveals during the investigation that he is also having direct
connection with Hawala operators. After considering sufficient
evidence against him, he has been arrested on 25.04.2024 and
charge sheet has been filed in the case.
3. Learned Senior Advocate appearing for the applicant would submit
that the investigating agency has acted most arbitrarily and it had
nothing, but ill-motivated and mala fide intention to implicate the
applicant in offence. He is having no connection or association in any
way either with the affairs of the business of Mahadev online book or
has received the proceeds of crime. He would further submit that the
prosecution has failed to establish the link of present applicant with
the alleged offence. He would further submit that though the
applicant was named in second supplementary prosecution
complaint filed by ED for the offence under Section 3 of PMLA-2002,
which was filed on 12.01.2024, but in the disclosure memo of
information issued under Section 66(2) of PMLA, the present
applicant has not been arrayed as the accused. Merely on the basis
of the fact that the present applicant is an accused in ED case, he
cannot be implicated in ACB case also. There is no recovery from the
applicant of any incriminating material, which is used by the applicant
in operation of Mahadev Book. The electronic evidences collected
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against the applicant itself is suspicious in absence of any authentic
proof of its genuineness.
There is no ingredients of cheating in the material collected
during the investigation. No offence of either cheating, forgery of
valuable security, using as genuine a forge document, any criminal
conspiracy or even causing disappearance of any evidence. There is
no sufficient material against the applicant for commission of offence
under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The electronic evidence
collected by the prosecution is very weak type of evidence, on which
there is no possibility to sustain conviction of the applicant. There is
no sufficient evidence in the charge sheet against the applicant that
he actively involved in illegal earning through Mahadev Book.
*******He would further submit that in the charge sheet it is alleged
against the present applicant that he gained an unfair economic
advantage by various illegal means, which makes him liable to be
punished for the alleged offences, but there is no specific allegation
against the applicant relating to any illegal act.
*******He would rely upon the order dated 15.02.2024 passed in
MCRC No. 60 of 2024 (Arun Pati Tripathi v. Director of
Enforcement) and order dated 02.04.2024 passed in MCRC No.
576 of 2024 (Arvind Singh v. Director of Enforcement). There is
no person, who were cheated by the applicant. There is no evidence
that the applicant conspired with the other co-accused persons. The
applicant is in jail since 25.04.2024 and till date only charge sheet
has been filed and even the charges have not been framed and
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therefore, there is every possibility of delay in trial. The long period of
incarceration and in view of the violation of his fundamental rights
guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the applicant
is entitled for release on bail.
*******In support of his submissions, he would rely upon the judgment
passed by Hon’ble Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI
and another, (2022) 10 SCC 51, P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of
Enforcement, (2020) 13 SCC 791, Sanjay Chandra v. CBI, (2012) 1
SCC 40, Arvind Kejriwal v. Directorate of Enforcement, order
dated 12.07.2024 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 2493 of 2024,
Manish Sisodia v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC OnLine
SC 1920, Siddharth v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2022) 1 SCC 676,
Joginder Kumar v. State of U.P., 1994 Cr.L.J. 1981 and submitted
that looking to the period of his custody, he is cooperative during the
entire investigation and there is no possibility of tampering with the
witnesses or document as the investigation has already been
completed. Therefore, the applicant may be enlarged on bail.
4. Per contra, learned counsel for the State vehemently opposed the
submissions of learned counsel for the applicant and has submitted
that during the investigation, it was found that the promoters of
Mahadev Online Book, who had created an online platform as an
alternative to illegal betting in various live games in place of offline
betting and started betting through various websites through
WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram. From the illegal earning, about
70-80% of the earning were kept by the promoters and the remaining
amount was given to penal operators. Their turnover was about Rs.
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450 Crores monthly through online betting app. The transaction of
amount was through the bank accounts, which were opened on the
basis of fake documents for transaction of the said illegal earned
income. The huge cash amount was spent by the promoters of
Mahadev Book App on advertisement of betting websites and for that
they organized ‘Star Studded’ events, in which the various Bollywood
celebrities were participated. Investments have been made in various
companies, shell companies and stock market and also in
cryptocurrency. Another betting platform Sky Exchange was also run
by Harishankar Tibrewal from whose possession the assets worth of
Rs. 580 Crores were acquired through illegal earning.
*******It is also submitted by him that the present applicant is actively
associated with Ravi Uppal and his associates, who were the
operators of Mahadev Book. He would further submit that the present
applicant came into contact with Mahadev Book in the year 2021 and
he obtained 04 panels of Mahadev Book from which he received 5%
commission. He along with Chandrabhushan Verma and his
associates were operating the said penals and a huge amount has
been received from the operators against the betting. The illegal
amount received from the betting is invested in the property situated
at Wallfort Heights and purchased a flat for Rs. 43,46,000/-. The
mobile phone of the present applicant has been seized. The mirror
image of the data of the mobile phone were analyzed, in which it was
found that various penals were operated through him. In his mobile
number, a name was saved as ‘G.B. Sir’. There was a conversation
in WhatsApp between mobile number 9340553605 and penal of
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Mahadev Book M-281. The details of the book have been found in
the mobile seized from the Satish Chandrakar, in which it has also
been extracted that the illegal amount acquired from Mahadev Book
was obtained through Hawala. From the data recovered from the
mobile phone of the applicant, his direct connection with the other co-
accused persons clearly revealed. In the account of firm Srishti Tours
and Travels, which was run by Chandrabhushan Verma, the present
applicant used to pay Rs. 3,47,000/- and Chandrabhushan Verma
transferred it in the account number 039642069442. From the
statement of one Dipan Joseph, it is clear that the applicant received
Rs.8 Lakhs from Ravi Uppal, who is the Director of Mahadev Book an
all of them were actively engaged in illegal operation of betting app.
From the statement of Swetabh Suman Singh, mobile data analysis
report, memorandum statement of co-accused Arjun Singh Yadav
and CDR analysis report, the involvement of the applicant in the
offence in question has been prima facie established. There is
overwhelming evidence against the applicant to connect him in the
offence in question and therefore he is not entitled for bail.
*******He would also submit that when the EOW/ACB received an
information of cognizable offence, he has to register the FIR as per
the direction issued by Hon’ble Supreme Court in case of Lalita
Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh and Ors. (2008) 7 SCC
164. The ECIR is not an FIR, but is a complaint. He would further
submit that for commission of offence under Section 3 of PMLA, it is
not necessary that a person must also commit the predicate offence.
He would also submit that the involvement in the criminal activity is
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the relevant consideration. A person can be held guilty in money
laundering, even if he is not named in the scheduled offence. In
support of his contention, he relied upon the case of Vijay Madanlal
Choudhary v. Union of India, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 929. In the
present case, the offence under the money laundering act is not akin
to the offence of IPC or the Prevention of Corruption Act. The offence
of money laundering is entirely different from the offence of cheating
or forgery of the valuable security/document. He would also relied
upon the judgment passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the
matter of State Through CBI v. Anil Sharma, (1997), 7 SCC 187, in
which the Hon’ble Supreme Court has considered that the custodial
interrogation is a qualitative method of interrogation and ED has only
shared certain information with the EOW/ACB, and it is for the
EOW/ACB to interrogate the allegations of the information.
Therefore, there is need to arrest to the applicant and to interrogate
him. While considering the bail application, the allegations in the
charge sheet against the applicant is the relevant consideration and
the role of the accused and also the prima facie evidence available
against him. In the present case, there is sufficient evidence available
against the present applicant that he is involved in the alleged
offence and looking to the seriousness of the offence, he is not
entitled to be released on bail.
5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material
placed in the present case by both the parties.
6. For consideration of the bail application of the applicant, the Court
need not go deep inside the merits of the case, but should consider
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the prima facie material against the accused in the case. The Hon’ble
Supreme Court in the matter of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case
(supra) has observed in para 401 of its judgment that:-
“401. We are in agreement with the observation made
by the Court in Ranjitsing Brahmajeetsing Sharma
[(2005) 5 SCC 294). The Court while dealing with the
application for grant of bail need not delve deep into
the merits of the case and only a view of the Court
based on available material on record is required. The
Court will not weigh the evidence to find the guilt of
the accused which is, of course, the work of Trial
Court. The Court is only required to place its view
based on probability on the basis of reasonable
material collected during the investigation and the
said view will not be taken into consideration by the
Trial Court in recording its finding of the guilt or
acquittal during trial which is based on the evidence
adduced during the trial. As explained by this Court in
Nimmagadda Prasad [(2013) 7 SCC 466], the words
used in Section 45 of the 2002 Act are “reasonable
grounds for believing” which means the Court has to
see only if there is a genuine case against the
accused and the prosecution is not required to prove
the charge beyond reasonable doubt.”
7. In the case of Satish Jaggi Vs. State of Chhattisgarh, (2007) 11
SCC 195, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that “at the stage of
granting of bail, the Court can only go into the question of prima facie
case established for granting bail, it cannot go into the question of
credibility and reliability of witnesses put up by the prosecution. The
question of credibility and reliability of prosecution witnesses can only
be tested during trial.”
8. In the present case from the statement of Dipan Joseph, it comes in
the charge sheet that he introduced with the present applicant
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through Ravi Uppal. The present applicant has obtained ID of
Mahadev Online Book and Reddy Anna Book, which was given by
him on commission. The present applicant has earned huge amount
from Mahadev Online Book after joining Ravi Uppal and on the
instance of Ravi Uppal, he gave Rs. 1 Lakh to the present applicant.
From his statement, the involvement of the other co-accused persons
is also reveals that all of them were connected with each other and
who actively involved in Mahadev Online Book. From the statement of
Swetabh Suman Singh, the involvement of the present applicant,
Chandrabhushan Verma and other co-accused persons, who are
engaged with Mahadev Online Book as well as Hawala operations
have been come out. From the mobile data analysis, the involvement
of the applicant with the other co-accused persons of Mahadev Book
were extracted. From the memorandum statement of Arvind Singh
Yadav also, his involvement is clearly reflected that he actively
involved in operation of Mahadev Online Book.
9. From the mobile phone seized from the applicant, various information
have been extracted, which connect the applicant from others, who
actively engaged with the Mahadev Online Book and the entire
material collected by the prosecution during the investigation are
sufficiently pointed towards his guilt.
10. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
Vs. CBI, reported in (2013) 7 SCC 439 has held in para 34 and 35 of
its judgment that
“34. Economic offences constitute a class apart and
need to be visited with a different approach in the
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matter of bail. The economic offences having deep-
rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public
funds need to be viewed seriously and considered as
grave offences affecting the economy of the country
as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the
financial health of the country.
35. While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind
the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in
support thereof, the severity of the punishment which
conviction will entail, the character of the accused,
circumstances which are peculiar to the accused,
reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the
accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the
witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of
the public/State and other similar considerations.
11. Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary
(supra) has observed in para 398 as under :-
“398. Thus, it is well settled by the various decisions
of this Court and policy of the State as also the view
of international community that the offence of money-
laundering is committed by an individual with a
deliberate design with the motive to enhance his
gains, disregarding the interests of nation and society
as a whole and which by no stretch of imagination can
be termed as offence of trivial nature. Thus, it is in the
interest of the State that law enforcement agencies
should be provided with a proportionate effective
mechanism so as to deal with these types of offences
as the wealth of the nation is to be safeguarded from
these dreaded criminals. As discussed above, the
conspiracy of money-laundering, which is a three-
staged process, is hatched in secrecy and executed in
darkness, thus, it becomes imperative for the State to
frame such a stringent law, which not only punishes
the offender proportionately, but also helps in
preventing the offence and creating a deterrent
effect.”
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12. Having considered the rival submissions made by respective parties,
as also from the material produced in the present case, it is not
acceptable that the present applicant did not know about the
transactions of Mahadev online book and the money obtained by him.
The information recovered from his mobile phone clearly
demonstrates his association with the others, who associated with
Mahadev Book and Reddy Anna Book. Denial by the applicant itself is
not sufficient to consider prima facie that there is no mens rea of the
applicant for the said offence either under the IPC, Chhattisgarh
Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 or Public Gambling Act, 1867 or
under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Although the statements of
the witnesses are required to be tested at the time of trial, but for the
purpose of consideration of bail application, the statements of the
witnesses are relevant for consideration of bail application of the
applicant.
13. As has been discussed hereinabove, it cannot be said that there is no
involvement of the applicant in the offence in question. Considering
the role of the applicant in obtaining the money through illegal source,
which is the proceeds of crime in the Mahadev book app, it is found
that there is sufficient evidence collected by the EOW/ACB to prima
facie show the involvement of the applicant in the alleged offences. It
is an organized crime having various facets of its complexion,
therefore, further considering the nature of offence and material
collected during the investigation, this Court is satisfied that there is
prima facie evidence for believing that the applicant is involved in the
offence, therefore, I am not inclined to release the applicant on bail.
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14. Consequently, the present bail application filed by the applicant-
Satish Chandrakar is rejected.
Sd/-
(Ravindra Kumar Agrawal)
Judge
ved
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