A special CBI court in Chandigarh on Monday dismissed the regular bail plea of Vikas Goyal alias Vicky Goyal, one of the accused in the alleged ₹13-lakh Punjab Vigilance Bureau bribery case, holding that there is prima facie material suggesting his active role in a conspiracy that allegedly used a fictitious vigilance complaint generated through ChatGPT to extort money from a public servant.
Special judge Bhawna Jain observed that the allegations extend beyond a routine bribery case and indicate a “systematic misuse of the anti-corruption enforcement framework for personal gain.” The court held that the gravity of the allegations, the nature of the evidence collected by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the apprehension that the accused could influence witnesses weighed against the grant of bail.
According to the prosecution, the case arose from a complaint lodged by Amit Kumar, a state tax officer posted in Malout, who alleged that Om Parkash Singh Rana, then reader to the Punjab DGP (Vigilance), along with Vikas Goyal, his son Raghav Goyal and others, demanded ₹13 lakh and an expensive mobile phone on the pretext of getting a disproportionate assets complaint against him closed and preventing action by the Vigilance Bureau.
The CBI alleged that a trap laid on May 11 led to the arrest of co-accused Ankit Wadhwa, who allegedly accepted the tainted money and the mobile phone at a hotel in Chandigarh on behalf of the accused. Investigators further alleged that Vikas Goyal and Raghav Goyal fled from the PSTCL guest house in Mohali after learning about the trap and were intercepted on the Rajpura-Ambala highway. Vikas Goyal was arrested on May 12.
{{/usCountry}}The CBI alleged that a trap laid on May 11 led to the arrest of co-accused Ankit Wadhwa, who allegedly accepted the tainted money and the mobile phone at a hotel in Chandigarh on behalf of the accused. Investigators further alleged that Vikas Goyal and Raghav Goyal fled from the PSTCL guest house in Mohali after learning about the trap and were intercepted on the Rajpura-Ambala highway. Vikas Goyal was arrested on May 12.
{{/usCountry}}Rejecting the defence’s argument that investigation had concluded and custodial interrogation was no longer required, the court held that the material collected by the CBI, including WhatsApp chats, call detail records, recorded conversations, CCTV footage, forensic examination of mobile phones and witness statements, prima facie pointed to the applicant’s involvement in the alleged conspiracy.
The defence also submitted that the applicant had medical ailments and had been admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, during judicial custody.
However, the court held that the medical documents placed on record were largely old records that had already been considered while rejecting his earlier interim medical bail plea.