Supreme Court Condemns Digital Arrest Scams Targeting Senior Citizens: A Growing Cybercrime Crisis in India

Representational Image

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court expressed grave concern on Friday regarding the digital arrest of an elderly couple in Ambala, Haryana, who were defrauded of Rs 1.05 crore by fraudsters using counterfeit court orders and impersonating investigation agency officials.

Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi highlighted the increasing prevalence of digital arrest cases throughout India and requested responses from both the Central Government and the CBI. This suo motu case was initiated after a 73-year-old woman sent a letter to Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.

The bench emphasized that the forgery of Supreme Court and High Court orders, including judges' signatures, to digitally detain innocent citizens, particularly senior citizens, fundamentally undermines public confidence in judicial institutions.

"The fabrication of judicial orders bearing forged signatures of judges strikes at the very foundation of the public trust in the judicial system besides the rule of law. Such action constituted direct assault on the dignity of the institution," stated the Supreme Court.

The Court further noted that such serious criminal conduct cannot be classified merely as an ordinary instance of fraud or cybercrime.

"We are also inclined to take judicial notice of the fact that the instance case is not the sole instance. It has been largely reported many times in the media that such crimes have taken place in different parts of the country. We are, therefore, of the view that action and coordinated efforts between the central and state police are required to unearth the full extent of the criminal enterprise involving forging judicial documents, extortion/robbery of innocent people, most importantly the senior citizens," the judges declared.

The Court sought assistance from the Attorney General and instructed the Haryana government and Ambala cyber crime department to submit a status report regarding their investigation into the senior citizen couple's case.

The matter came to light when the female complainant alleged that scammers had presented fraudulent court orders, complete with stamps and seals, authorizing their arrest and surveillance between September 3 and 16. This resulted in the couple being defrauded of over Rs 1 crore through multiple banking transactions.

The woman reported that these court orders were presented through numerous audio and video calls by individuals posing as CBI and ED officers threatening to arrest them.

The Supreme Court was informed that two FIRs had been registered with the Ambala cyber crime department under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitya (BNS).