The Allahabad High Court has rejected the bail of Chinese citizen Ryen @ Ren Chao who was arrested on charges of cheating and fraud in making a passport, visa and Aadhar card.
A Single Bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc Bail Application filed by Ryen @ Ren Chao.
The accused in the case is a Chinese national who is facing trial in Case at Police Station Beta-2, District- Gautam Buddha Nagar under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B, 201 IPC and Section 14(A), 14(B), 14(C), 14 of Foreigners Act and Section 66D IT Act. The applicant has been in jail since 09.07.2022.
This is the first bail application filed by the aforesaid Chinese national before the Court. The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the trial court on 07.11.2022.
The gravamen of the prosecution case as set out in the FIR is that reports of tampering of E-FRRO reports and fraudulent Visa extensions came to the notice of police authorities. Raids conducted at Taj Hotel led to recovery of various items including a BMW car, Aadhar Cards, ATM Cards, laptops, mobile phones and passports. Subsequent raids during the investigations at a flat in J.P Greens yielded incriminating articles namely fake Aadhar Cards and Passports. A Chinese national by the name of XUE-FEI @ Koei was arrested and questioned.
XUE-FEI @ Koei had forged his identity papers with the collaboration of his business associate Ravi Kumar Natwarlal Thakkar. Police interrogation of Pete Khrienuo @ Pette disclosed that she had assisted XUE-FEI @ Koei and two other Chinese nationals to illegally obtain false IDs’ like voter card, Aadhar card from Nagaland.
She had facilitated the illegal entry of two Chinese nationals into the country and also travelled with them and Xue-Fei @ Koei to various places in India. She had purchased Indian sim cards on her ID.
The applicant was not named in the FIR. However during the course of investigations, the police authorities unearthed several incriminatory evidence against the applicant which according to them establish the culpability of the applicant in various offences.
Counsel for the applicant submitted that,
i. The applicant was a simple workman who extracted chips in a unit set up by a company called HTZN.
ii. No incriminating article has been recovered from the applicant. The stamp pad in the name of the applicant recovered from the factory premises in the name of the applicant at the pointing out of the co-accused was not used for any fraudulent transaction. Travel tickets which were recovered from the applicant do not connect the applicant with any offence.
iii. The applicant was nominated in the statement of co accused Ashu Kumar and Pradeep Kumar while in custody of police authorities. The only offence against the applicant (without prejudice to his defence) is that of overstaying the visa which may constitute an offence under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. The offences alleged against the applicant are petty in nature.
The foreign nationals are entitled to seek bail as per the applicable laws, and conditionalities as may be imposed in the facts and circumstances of a case.
A.G.A. for the State submitted that,
i. The statement of the co-accused made before the police authorities while in the custody of the latter can be relied upon against the applicant in bail application in appropriate cases especially when other credible evidence corroborates the same.
ii. Further credible evidence has also been unearthed against the applicant which directly connects him to various offences for which he is being tried.
iii. The applicant was in-charge of day to day functioning and was in the higher management of the company.
iv. The applicant tried to falsely pose as a workman only to ensure that his illegal activities go undetected. The applicant is a part of a larger criminal organization and an international crime network which has been committing crimes of a serious nature in India. There is no legal documentation of the business of HTZN and it is connected with other fake companies.
v. Various pieces of evidence like statements of persons connected with the company, recovered articles, CDRs, documentary evidence and fraudulent transactions clearly point to the guilt of the applicant.
vi. The applicant entered India as an employee of another company who started working for HTZN without any permission.
vii. The applicant remained in India after overstaying his visa only in furtherance of his criminal activities and interests.
viii. The applicant has no regard for Indian laws and is likely to flee the country if enlarged on bail. There are no prospects of getting the applicant extradited or procuring his presence in court if he leaves the territorial boundaries of India.
ix. The offences are grave in nature and pose a threat to national security and the national economy.
The Court said that,
In today’s age of a globalized world order, digital technologies and integrated economies have wrought far reaching changes in human societies and have also brought complex legal challenges in their wake. The character and nature of crime is undergoing a change. Some of these offences impact the national economy or national security in a significant manner. The response of the Indian laws and courts to the emerging legal challenges will be critical.
The Constitution and the Indian system of laws bound India into an indissoluble union and gave irrevocable guarantees of fundamental rights and justice to all citizens. Ancient Indian values of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam are in embodied constitutional law pronouncements of higher courts in modern India. Foreign nationals in India also cherish the ample fruits of liberties in this land. Life and some liberties of such foreign nationals are protected in many ways under the Indian laws.
“The bail jurisdiction and criteria for grant of bail has been settled more by conventions and practices which entered into judicial precedents over time. While considering grant of bail the courts have to consider various aspects including the likelihood that the accused committed the offence, the nature and gravity of the offence, and the impact on the society. Besides, the Court has also to examine the criminal antecedents of the under trial, likelihood of the accused reoffending and assess whether the accused is a flight risk. The essence of bail jurisdiction is to balance the demands of personal liberty with the imperatives of the court process. Attaining this balance is an exercise undertaken in every bail application”, the Court further said while dismissing the bail application.
The Court stated that the presence of foreign nationals in India as travellers or traders or otherwise is an extant reality. It is true for other countries as well. Legal issues like criminal trials of foreign nationals though arising in the domestic jurisdiction of one country have international ramifications. Criminal trial proceedings in the domestic courts of one country can get linked to the legal system and the Government of another country. There is a need for an international framework of laws which is created by consensus among the comity of nations in order to deal with such issues in a fair, transparent and just manner. For the moment this issue is not within the ken of the Court. However, it is a problem which the Government of India and other members of the comity of nations will have to address.
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