A Mumbai court has acquitted a Jharkhand resident in a cyber fraud case, holding that the mere transfer of defrauded money into a person’s bank account, without evidence of criminal conspiracy with the main accused, does not amount to a criminal offence.
Court Says Mere Credit Into Account Is Not Enough
Judicial Magistrate S G Chimankar of Girgaon court delivered the verdict last week, acquitting Manoj Kisku after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. The court observed that the mere crediting of money into the bank account of an accused, without evidence of any criminal conspiracy with the main accused, did not constitute an offence.
The magistrate further noted that while the informant may have suffered wrongful loss and the accused may have gained from the transfer of the amount, the circumstances indicated civil liability rather than criminal liability. The court said this did not establish any criminal offence against the accused on the facts placed before it.
The ruling placed emphasis on the need for direct or circumstantial evidence linking an account holder to the larger fraudulent conspiracy, rather than relying only on the movement of money.
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Fraud Complaint Stemmed From Fake PAN Update Link
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 clicking on the link in the message and submitting her details on a fake website, Rs 99,986 was transferred from her account, police said.
She subsequently received a phone call from an individual who demanded an OTP. After she shared the password, another 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 in the name of Rauf Ansari, who is based in Jamtara, Jharkhand.
Investigators later 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 provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, and was later released on bail in October 2023.
No Evidence of Conspiracy, Court Finds
Appearing for the accused, advocate Amol Thomare argued that the prosecution had failed to arrest the main accused, Ansari, who directly communicated with and allegedly deceived the informant. The defence also submitted that no evidence had been brought on record to show any connection, communication or criminal conspiracy between Kisku and Ansari.
After examining the evidence, the court held that although the prosecution had established that money was fraudulently transferred from the informant’s account, it had completely failed to show that Kisku had sent the fraudulent texts or links. The magistrate also highlighted that police had neither arrested the prime suspect, in whose name the mobile connection was registered, nor produced any direct or circumstantial evidence proving a conspiracy between Kisku and Ansari.
The court concluded that the overall evidence on record did not reflect any involvement of the accused in the commission of the offence or any criminal conspiracy in respect of it. On that basis, Kisku was acquitted and given the benefit of doubt.
About the author – Ayesha Aayat is a law student and contributor covering cybercrime, online frauds, and digital safety concerns. Her writing aims to raise awareness about evolving cyber threats and legal responses.
