Delhi HC denies bail to accused in job scam

Delhi High Court denies anticipatory bail to two accused of cheating job seekers out of ₹12 lakh for fake railway jobs, citing broader fraud involvement.

The Delhi high court has refused to grant anticipatory bail to two individuals accused of cheating several people of ₹12 lakh on the promise of securing them jobs in the railways, observing that the case was not a simple fraud against a gullible individual but involved cheating multiple young aspirants seeking government employment.

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“It is not a case of simple fraud played on a gullible individual. The number of young aspirants for government jobs was cheated. Many of the parents, one of whom is present in the courtroom, spent their life savings so that their ward could get a job with the railways. The accused/applicants not just defrauded those job seekers but even threatened to get them booked in a false rape case when they demanded their money back after bouncing of the cheques,” Justice Girish Kathpalia said in his order delivered on Friday.

The two individuals had approached the high court seeking anticipatory bail in a cheating and forgery case registered in 2021.

The FIR was registered after a victim alleged that one of the accused promised railway jobs and showed appointment and joining letters to gain their trust. Three aspirants agreed to pay ₹12 lakh in stages.

They were called to the accused’s office, asked to submit Aadhaar copies, and later directed to travel to Kolkata, where forms were filled, money was collected for medical tests at a railway hospital, and appointment letters were issued. The victims were even given training and certificates. However, when the complainant reported to a railway station, he was told the appointment letter was forged. When confronted, the accused allegedly threatened to implicate him in a false rape case.

In her bail application, one of the accused claimed that she herself was a victim of cheating and had written a letter to the General Manager at Rail Bhawan in West Bengal regarding the matter. She maintained that she was innocent and had been falsely implicated merely because she wrote the letter to the railways.

The other accused argued that he had not received any money from the alleged victims and contended that they had also failed to disclose the source of the funds they claimed to have paid.

The Delhi police opposed the bail applications, contending that custodial interrogation was required to uncover how the entire fraud was carried out, which involved other persons, some of whom might be serving employees of the railways.

In his eight-page order, Justice Girish Kathpalia rejected the bail pleas, noting that the accused had taken the victims to different railway offices and training centres, which would not have been possible without the possible complicity of railway officials. The court said it was therefore imperative to investigate the wider network behind the alleged fraud.