The Alleged Fraud A Delhi court has denied bail to a man accused of cheating a Haryana judicial officer of over Rs 52 lakh through a relationship that allegedly began on the dating app Tinder.
Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler of Patiala House Courts dismissed the bail plea of Deepak Vats, citing his active obstruction of the investigation, including refusing to share the password to his phone, which has been in police custody since May 15.
The accused claimed the judge herself initiated contact through a fake profile and that the two developed a consensual romantic relationship.
He said all money transfers were voluntary and that she proposed depositing funds into an online gaming account held in his name.
He also claimed the couple met in person twice in Delhi and that the complaint was filed falsely through her domestic worker after the relationship ended.
Judge swipes right on Tinder, loses ₹52 lakh to alleged honeytrap, gets domestic help to file complaint report by @RitwikinCourt https://t. co/V3NzcBykYI — Bar and Bench (@barandbench) June 11, 2026 The Complaint And What The Court Found The FIR was lodged in the name of Diksha Devi, the judge's domestic worker, who told police she had been cheated through an online dating platform.
The court called this the most striking aspect of the case, observing that not a single digital payment connected to the alleged fraud came from Diksha Devi's accounts.
All transactions originated from the judicial officer's own accounts.
Court's Directives The court directed the investigating officer to collect complete WhatsApp and Tinder records, verify the alleged in-person meetings, trace a Rs 5 lakh cash deposit, and examine the entities through which money was routed.
The court also directed the judge to place her full communications on record, saying selective silence served neither justice nor her own stated objective of prosecuting the accused.
See Also: Bumble Cracks Down On AI-Generated Profiles; Rival Tinder Launches AI Tool To Find A Match See Also: Dating Apps : The New Breeding Ground Of Crypto Scammers Cover: illustrative / Pexels