Gullible Individuals Fall Prey To Inducements In Name Of Religious Preachers, Harsh Reality Of Society: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that gullible individuals facing rough time in their life fall prey to inducements in the name of religious preachers, terming it to be a harsh reality of the society. “One cannot ignore the harsh reality of our society where gullible individuals facing the rough weathers in life fall prey to such inducements in the name of religious preachers,” Justice Girish Kathpalia said. The Court denied anticipatory bail to a man who allegedly collected substantial money repeatedly from a woman in the name of his religious preacher.It was alleged that she and her children were cheated of Rs.5,63,37,090 by the accused and his associates. The parties were disciples of a religious preacher and used to attend the religious congregations in a temple at Chhatarpur.Keeping in mind the sentiments of a large number of disciples and devotees of the religious preacher in question, the Court did not mention his name or title but said that the title of the preacher left no doubt that the complainant de facto got induced to pay money to the accused, who convinced her that it is with the inspiration of that preacher, all her problems would get solved and she would get rich through substantial profits on the investments.The Court said there was not even a whiff from the side of the accused disclosing as to where he invested the money collected by him from the complainant and a few other similar followers of the religious preacher. “As specifically submitted by the Investigating Officer, the accused/applicant initially did not respond on this aspect despite being called repeatedly, but later he vaguely stated having invested the money in crypto-currency, without disclosing any details,” the Court noted. Dismissing the plea, the Court noted that as per the Investigating Officer, the accused had stopped joining investigation and had fled to some undisclosed destination. “As rightly submitted by learned prosecutor, custodial investigation is necessary in this case in order to track down the trail of cheated money,” the Court said. Title: MANU WAHDWA @ MOHIT v. THE STATE, GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHICitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 472Click here to read order

Gullible Individuals Fall Prey To Inducements In Name Of Religious Preachers, Harsh Reality Of Society: Delhi High Court

Nupur Thapliyal

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