Partly allowed

Lakhan Thawarani v. State of Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh HC16 Sept 2026MCRC/8331/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court of Chhattisgarh heard a first bail application under Section 483 BNSS, 2023 by three applicants arrested for operating an online gambling syndicate. The court granted bail to Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija on parity grounds as several co-accused had already been released on bail by the Supreme Court and the Sessions Court. Bail was denied to Aman Nathani due to the large quantity of electronic equipment, financial instruments and cash seized from him, coupled with his prior criminal antecedents including two cases under the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022.

What did the court decide?

Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija released on regular bail on furnishing personal bond of Rs.50,000 each with one solvent surety of like amount; bail rejected for Aman Nathani.

Lakhan Thawarani Vs State of Chhattisgarh — Bail and Remand | Chhattisgarh HC (2026)

Outcome

Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija released on regular bail on furnishing personal bond of Rs.50,000 each with one solvent surety of like amount; bail rejected for Aman Nathani.

Issue for consideration

Whether the applicants Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija are entitled to regular bail on the ground of parity with co-accused already enlarged on bail. +1 more

Detailed headnote5 paragraphs

The High Court of Chhattisgarh allowed the bail application of Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija and rejected that of Aman Nathani in a case involving an online gambling syndicate under the Public Gambling Act, 1867, the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Section 112(2) BNS, 2023.

The prosecution alleged the applicants were part of a 14-member syndicate running betting applications across multiple states. The case against the applicants rested on memorandum statements of co-accused and electronic evidence. Investigation was complete and a charge-sheet filed.

The court observed that several co-accused — Naman Jaggi, Ankit Agrawal, Ayush Jain, Mohammed Sarfaraz Mamdani (by Supreme Court order dated 31.08.2026 in SLP (Crl.) No. 13476/2026) and Subodh Ram, Rahul Shukla, Ram Lalwani, Likeshwar Sahu, Akash Singh Rajput, Pradeep Patel, Hitesh Dalwani (by Sessions Court order dated 03.09.2026) — had already been granted bail on similar allegations.

Applying the principle of parity, and noting Lakhan Thawarani had no criminal antecedent and Nishant Hasija's antecedent was for offences unrelated to gambling, the court enlarged them on regular bail subject to standard conditions (personal bond of Rs.50,000 with one solvent surety).

For Aman Nathani, the court noted the seizure of 3 mobile phones, 1 laptop, 5 internet routers, 21 ATM cards, 11 bank passbooks, 5 cheque books and Rs.1,20,000 cash, together with three criminal antecedents including two under the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022. The court held that the nature and extent of the seizure, his alleged role in the syndicate and his antecedents disentitled him to the benefit of parity. Bail was refused without prejudice to the merits of the case.

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VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Digitally signed by VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Date: 2026.09.22 19:00:08 +0530

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CGHC010339802026 2026:CGHC:40714

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NAFR

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HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR

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MCRC No. 8331 of 2026

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1 - Lakhan Thawarani S/o Mahesh Kumar Thawarani, Aged About 24 Years R/o Mandir Chowk, Jarha Bhata, Kasturba Nagar, P. S. Civil Lines, District Bilaspur (C.G.)

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2 - Nishant Hasija, S/o Gulshan Hasija, Aged About 22 Years R/o Dabua Colony, A Block 416, P. S. Dabua, District Faridabad (Haryana)

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3 - Aman Nathani, S/o Manoj Nathani, Aged About 30 Years R/o Ward No. 14, Sindhi Colony, P. S. Kharsia, District Raigarh (C.G.)

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... Applicants

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versus

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State Of Chhattisgarh Police Station Telibandha, District Raipur (C.G.)

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... Respondent

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(Cause title taken from Case Information System)

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For Applicants : Mr. Pragalbh Sharma, Advocate For Respondent/State : Ms. Richa Sahu, Panel Lawyer

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Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal

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Order on Board

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17/09/2026

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This is the first bail application of the applicants under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular bail. The applicants have been arrested on 25.05.2026 in connection

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with Crime No. 202 of 2026, registered at Police Station Telibandha, Raipur, for the offence under Section 4(a) of Public Gambling Act, 1867 and Section 7 of Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Section 112(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

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The case of the prosecution is that, on 05.05.2026, the police of Police Station Telibandha received secret information that the applicant Naman Jaggi was engaged in selling IDs of the Gold777 online betting application near 36 Mall, Telibandha and was engaged in online gambling through his mobile phone. The police conducted a raid at the said place and found the applicant Naman Jaggi there, who was in his car bearing registration No. CG 04 QX 3300, and two mobile phones were seized from him. Upon interrogation, he disclosed that he was having the betting application Gold777 along with its ID, namely, Nald, and password Hum12345. He further disclosed that he had been engaged in selling IDs for the last two years and was earning 50% commission. He had purchased the said ID from Mohsil for Rs.3 lakhs and also disclosed his mobile number as 7456871342. He further disclosed the mobile numbers of Surfaraz @ Saif, i.e. 6260386719, and Golu, i.e. 8602490939, to whom he had given the said ID. He further disclosed that he had purchased the betting application Silverbet777, ID No. s201jaggi6660, having its Face ID password, from Sourabh Jain (9770948587) one month earlier on 50% commission for Rs.3 lakhs. He also disclosed that he had purchased the betting application jmdbet777.com, having ID sairam010 and password Aabb1122, from Ayush Jain on 50% commission for Rs.10 lakhs. Cash amounting to Rs.6,000/- was also seized from Naman Jaggi. On the spot, Ayush Jain and Surfaraz @

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Saif were also apprehended in their Thar vehicle bearing registration No. CG 04 NU 0313, and two mobile phones were seized from Ayush Jain. From the mobile phone of Ayush Jain, details of an online gambling connection with Bb Gau (Babu Gauli) (7400763004), relating to the betting application allpenalexch9.com with 15% commission, and the saved phone number 7387811111 of Bb NGP were extracted. He also disclosed the names of Sagar Adwani, Jayesh Bhaiya, Chanan, Golu, Almas and Amit, along with their mobile numbers, from whom the betting application Diamond Book was obtained, though the same had subsequently been deleted. He further disclosed that he had given one master ID to Raj Gupta of Bhilai for running online gambling at Hyderabad/Bangalore, which was connected with mobile No. 9243690376. Apart from this, some other persons were also operating online gambling from Goa through mobile No. 8817096567 and from Mumbai and Kolkata through mobile No. 7828086215. The accused Surfaraj @ Saif disclosed that he had purchased the betting application and ID from Naman Jaggi and was engaged in playing online gambling in cricket matches along with Ayush Jain. FIR was registered during investigation. From the memorandum statement of the applicant Aman Nathani, the names of other accused persons and present applicants Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija have been disclosed. They were running online gambling activities from Kolkata, which was being supervised by Ram Lalwani. From the applicant Lakhan Thawarani, 05 mobile phones, 01 mobile charger and Rs. 60,000/- cash have been seized, from the applicant Nishant Hasija, 07 mobile phones, 01 mobile charger and Rs. 65,000/- cash have been seized and from the

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applicant Aman Nathani, 03 mobile phones, 01 laptop, 01 mobile charger, 05 internet routers, 21 ATM cards, 11 bank passbooks, 05 cheque books and Rs. 1,20,000/- cash have been seized. The huge quantity of mobile phones, other electronic gadgets, cash amount have been seized from other accused persons. In all, 14 accused persons were arrested, who were found engaged in the syndicate of online gambling from different places, and their mobile phones, cash amounts and other articles were seized. After completion of investigation against the arrested accused persons, the charge-sheet has been filed.

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Mr. Pragalbha Sharma, learned counsel for the applicants would submit that there is no direct evidence against the applicants regarding their involvement either in conspiracy with the other accused persons or in playing online gambling. There is no incriminating material recovered from the mobile phones of the present applicants. Except for the memorandum statement, no substantive evidence is available in the charge-sheet against them. There is also no mention of any mobile number in the screenshot from which the same was extracted. Learned counsel would further submit that only the mobile phone of accused Naman Jaggi was sent for analysis, which itself creates doubt regarding the involvement of the present applicant in the offence in question. No bank account details were extracted from the mobile phones of the applicants and there was no money transaction through their mobile phones. Except for the electronic evidence relating to the mobile phone, there is no other incriminating material available in the charge-sheet implicating the applicants with the offence in question or demonstrating that the

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accused persons had formed a syndicate and were engaged in playing online gambling.

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He would further submit that the investigation has been completed and the charge-sheet has been filed and no custodial interrogation is required. The co-accused persons, namely, Naman Jaggi, Ankit Agrawal, Ayush Jain and Mohammed Sarfaraz Mamdani have been granted bail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 31.08.2026 in SLP (Crl.) No. 13476/2026 and connected matters. The other co-accused persons Subodh Ram, Rahul Shukla, Ram Lalwani, Likeshwar Sahu, Akash Singh Rajput, Pradeep Patel and Hitesh Dalwani have been granted bail by the learned 2^nd Additional Sessions Judge, Raipur vide order dated 03.09.2026 in Bail Application No. 2596 of 2026. Except the present applicants, all other co-accused persons have been released on bail and the allegation against the present applicants are similar to the co-accused persons, who have been released on bail. The present applicants are also entitled for released on bail on the ground of parity. Applicants are in jail since 25.05.2026, final adjudication of the case will take its own time. Therefore, they may be enlarged on regular bail.

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On the other hand, Ms. Richa Sahu, Panel Lawyer appearing for the State opposes the submissions made by learned counsel for the applicants and submits that there is sufficient and overwhelming material available in the charge-sheet against the applicants. On the basis of secret information, applicant Naman Jaggi was apprehended near 36 Mall, Raipur, and he disclosed the involvement of the other accused persons and the memorandum statement of other accused persons were recorded, in which the involvement of the present

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applicants have been disclosed, with whom they had formed a syndicate for online gambling and running betting applications on commission. From the mobile phone of Naman Jaggi, various incriminating data, including screenshots, have been extracted with respect to the running of betting applications for online gambling. When the present applicants were apprehended, they disclosed the chain of their syndicate and the manner in which they were using betting applications through the IDs provided by them. Their network and syndicate spread throughout various States of the country and they had established a huge network for online gambling. From screenshots relating to s210jaggi6660 and Nald, Bb NGP of mobile number 7387811111, Bb Gau of mobile number 7400763004 and various other details of betting applications such as God777 and allpenalexch9.co, etc., have been recovered. The present applicants have also disclosed about the running of betting applications and the commission received from online gambling. Learned counsel for the State would further submit that the case diary reflects that applicant Lakhan Thawarani had no criminal antecedent, Nishant Hasija had one criminal antecedent of the offence of Sections 323, 506, 34 of IPC and Aman Nathani having 03 criminal antecedents, out of which one offence is under Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 registered as Crime No. 685/2023 at police station Khamtarai, Raipur, the second offence is also under the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 registered as Crime No. 197/2023 and third offence is under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Looking to their active involvement in online gambling, their network throughout various

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States and the seriousness of the offence, the applicants are not entitled to be released on bail.

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I have heard learned counsel for the respective parties and perused the case diary.

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The prosecution case, insofar as the present applicants are concerned, is based upon the memorandum statements of the coaccused persons and the electronic material allegedly collected during investigation. It is also not in dispute that several co-accused persons, against whom similar allegations of being part of the alleged online gambling syndicate have been levelled, have already been enlarged on bail, including pursuant to the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 31.08.2026 and the order passed by the learned 2^nd Additional Sessions Judge, Raipur dated 03.09.2026. Having regard to the nature of the allegations, the period of custody already undergone, completion of investigation, filing of the chargesheet, the absence of any criminal antecedent in respect of applicant Lakhan Thawarani, the nature of the antecedent attributed to applicant Nishant Hasija, and the principle of parity with the coaccused persons already enlarged on bail, this Court is of the considered view that Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija may be enlarged on regular bail, subject to appropriate conditions.

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So far as applicant Aman Nathani is concerned, the material placed before the Court indicates his alleged involvement in the operation of the online gambling activities and the seizure made from him is comparatively substantial, comprising 03 mobile phones, 01 laptop, 01 mobile charger, 05 internet routers, 21 ATM cards, 11 bank passbooks, 05 cheque books and cash of Rs.1,20,000/-. Further, as

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reflected in the case diary, applicant Aman Nathani has 03 criminal antecedents, including 02 cases registered under the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022. Having regard to the nature and extent of the articles seized from him, his alleged role in the online gambling syndicate and his criminal antecedents, this Court is not inclined to extend the benefit of parity to him with the other coaccused persons. Therefore, considering the totality of the circumstances and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the bail application filed by applicant Aman Nathani deserves to be rejected.

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Accordingly, in view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case, the bail application with respect to the applicants Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija is allowed and the bail application with respect to the applicant Aman Nathani is rejected .

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The applicants Lakhan Thawarani and Nishant Hasija shall be released on regular bail on each of them furnishing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- with one solvent surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the concerned Trial Court, subject to the following conditions:—

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(i ) The applicants shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade such person from disclosing such facts to the Court.

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(ii) The applicants shall not act in any manner which will be prejudicial to a fair and expeditious trial.

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(iii) The applicants shall appear before the Trial Court on each and every date given to them by the concerned Trial Court till disposal of the trial.

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Sd/-

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(Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) Judge

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ved

Lakhan Thawarani v. State of Chhattisgarh

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Lakhan Thawarani v. State of Chhattisgarh

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