Honey Trap No Excuse for Sharing Air Force Station Photos With Pakistan-Based Contact: P&H High Court Denies Bail

The petitioner, who had access to the air force station as a supervisor, was arrested on 02.01.2026 under Section 152 BNS and Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act (paras 1-2, 6). He was found conversing on three mobile numbers with a woman whose numbers operated from Pakistan, and to have sent her photographs and information about the station and army areas, including Rafale jets (para 2). He said he had been in custody for nine months, the final report was filed, no sanction under Section 13 had been obtained, the photographs were on Google, and he was a honey-trap victim (para 3). The State said deleted photographs were found on his phone (para 4).

The Court held that even if it was a case of a honey trap, there was no occasion for the petitioner to share photographs of the air force station and the Rafale jets with an unknown person, and the investigating agencies were justified in treating it as a case of spying; whether he was actually involved would be decided at trial (para 6). It stressed that the Air Force Station, Ambala Cantt is a very strategic station, and such information going to a neighbouring country with which ties have not been very cordial is a serious matter; such persons do not deserve bail, lest they abscond or influence witnesses (para 6). Nine months in custody and the completion of investigation did not persuade it, and the coordinate-Bench orders relied on were on totally different facts, since in criminal cases there can never be a strait-jacket formula (para 6). The status report showed that sanction had in fact been obtained, which made the matter even more serious (para 7).