Supreme Court Takes Action Against Digital Arrest Scams and Cyber Fraud in India

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Central government regarding the increasing cases of digital arrests and cyber frauds targeting citizens nationwide, particularly those involving counterfeit judicial orders.

Addressing the escalating cybercrime incidents, the top court emphasized that a coordinated effort between the Centre and state governments is critically necessary to combat such offenses.

A Bench comprised of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joyamala Bagchi issued notices to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Ministry of Home Affairs, requesting their response to the suo motu proceedings initiated by the court.

The court took suo motu cognizance following a complaint dated September 21 from an elderly couple in Ambala who were defrauded of their life savings through a digital arrest scam between September 1 and 16.

According to the complaint, the victims were contacted by individuals falsely claiming to be officials from the CBI, Intelligence Bureau, and judicial authorities through video calls and telephone communications.

The perpetrators displayed forged Supreme Court orders on WhatsApp and video calls, bearing the alleged signature of former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna.

Under threats of arrest based on these falsified documents, the couple was pressured into transferring Rs 1.5 crore through multiple bank transactions.

The complaints revealed that two FIRs were registered with the Cyber Crime Branch in Ambala, indicating a pattern of organized criminal activity targeting senior citizens, as noted by the court while taking judicial notice of the alarming increase in cybercrimes against the elderly.

"Ordinarily we would have directed the state police to expedite the investigation and take it to the logical conclusion. We are however aghast that the fraudsters have fabricated multiple judicial orders in the name of the Supreme Court Of India, including a freeze order dated September 1 purportedly issued under the PMLA bearing forged signatures of a judge, officer of ED, and a court stamp also," Justice Surya Kant stated while delivering today's order.

The top court observed that there had been a brazen criminal misuse of the name, seal, and judicial authority of the Bombay High Court, along with false claims of investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI.

"Judicial orders with fake signatures of judges strike at the very foundation of the public trust system in the judiciary. Such grave criminal acts cannot be treated as an ordinary or routine offence of cheating or cybercrime," Justice Kant emphasized.

The court noted that this was not an isolated incident.

"It has been largely reported many times in the media that such incidents have taken place in different parts of the country," the bench observed.

The Supreme Court has also issued notices to the Haryana government as well as Ambala's Cybercrime Unit.