DHC Denies Anticipatory Bail to ‘Conman’ who Duped People in the Name of Home Minister

The Delhi High Court refused to grant anticipatory bail to another ‘conman’ like Sukesh Chandrashekhar who cheated people in the name of the Union Home Minister.

The case was registered by the Special Cell of Delhi Police based on a complaint that the accused and others were cheating people by using the name of Union Home Minister.

According to the complainant, Prawal Chaudhary met Brijesh Ratan and one Rahul Shah through the accused. According to the complaint, Brijesh Ratan falsely represented himself as a business partner of Jai Shah, the son of the union home minister. Brijesh Ratan claimed that his father had a business relationship with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Brijesh Ratan is also accused of defrauding the government by taking Rs 2 crore in lieu of arranging a meeting with the union Home minister to do some work done.

In a decision issued last Thursday, Delhi High Court judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma noted that the seriousness of the offence was that the names of such constitutional authority and his family have been used to defraud the complainant. Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, there is no ground for granting anticipatory bail to the accused-applicant.

While issuing the order, the court noted that its attention had been directed to the fact that the investigation in this case is in its initial stages. Evidence is being collected. Brijesh Ratan and Rahul Shah, the accused-applicant, given differing reports of how the offence was committed, and they need to confront each other and the complainant. The specific involvement of each accused in the overall scheme must be revealed.

Furthermore, the Court noted that the accused people used the name of the Union Home Minister for inducing the complainant to part with a large sum of money while knowing well well that the assurance he was given was false. Since it became clear to the complainant that there was no connection between the accused-applicant and the Union Home Minister or his family and the accused Brijesh Ratan or his father, he started demanding the money and realised he had been cheated in the name of constitutional authority.

Furthermore, the complainant has provided WhatsApp conversations, images, and audio recordings regarding to his communications with the accuse-applicant, Rahul Shah and Parvesh Ratan, according to the Status Report.

The investigation also revealed that WhatsApp messages between Rahul Shah and the accused/applicant from April 2022 onwards had audio recordings with Pravesh Ratan, implying that transactions occurred and the complainant is continually asking that his money be returned.

The Status report also revealed that when the complainant came to visit Brijesh Ratan’s office on March 28, 2022, Brijesh Ratan asked the complainant for token money, which was brought in two cartons kept in Brijesh Ratan’s office, and after the complainant left the office, Brijesh Ratan told the applicant-accused to count the cash and transfer it to other bags.

According to the status report, it was revealed during the investigation that the applicant-accused counted the cash of Rs 2 crore and transferred it from cartons to bag.