The Allahabad High Court has refused to quash FIR against ‘ZOOM BABA’ for inducing the public to invest in crypto currency named Ruby Coin.
The bench of Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Brij Raj Singh has observed that the petitioner, Mahendra Pratap Srivastava was one of the Board member of the Elite Club and he along with the main accused had induced innocent public to invest in virtual currency (Crypto Currency) by the name of Ruby Coin.
The bench noted that the petitioner used to hold ‘Zoom’ meetings with intending investors to induce them into buying such Ruby Coin/Crypto Currency and other Board members used to call him “Zoom Baba” because of his expertise in inducing the innocent investors into investing in such Crypto Currency.
The petitioner was contractually engaged as one of the trainers for educating the members of Ruby Coin Community with regard to Block Chain and Crypto Currency and the petitioner was not involved in any financial transactions and also the allegations made in the F.I.R. do not show the involvement of the petitioner.
The petitioner contended that he was also not involved in the development of software and he has no knowledge of any financial fraud or cheating having been done by Samir Keshari, the main accused. Moreover, the petitioner had tendered his resignation to Samir Keshari way back on 31.10.2023 as he was unable to train the members due to personal difficulty and health issues.
The court while dismissing the petition held that a cognizable offence has been made out against the petitioner. There is no good ground to interfere in the F.I.R.
Case Details
Case Title: Mahendra Pratap Srivastava Versus State of UP
Case No.: Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. – 1312 Of 2025
Date: 14.2.2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Amol Kumar Srivastava
Counsel For Respondent: G.A.
