New Delhi, 20 April (H.S.):

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed serious concern over the growing number of “digital arrest” cases across the country. During the hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant observed that it was shocking that even highly educated people were falling victim to such cyber frauds.

Counsel for the petitioner suggested that intermediary platforms should be equipped with a “kill switch” to help curb the menace, arguing that victims often panic upon learning they are being digitally “arrested” and are unable to respond effectively.

Attorney General R. Venkataramani informed the court that an internal meeting among the concerned departments had already taken place and that a final meeting would be held soon. He suggested that the next hearing could be scheduled for May 12.

Earlier, on December 1, 2025, the Supreme Court had said that the issue of digital arrest fraud required urgent attention. It had ordered a CBI probe into the registered cases linked to the scam and stated that the central agency would be fully free to investigate bankers wherever bank accounts used in cybercrime were traced.

The court had also directed the Reserve Bank of India to assist in determining whether artificial intelligence or machine learning could be used to identify suspicious accounts and freeze them. States that had not yet permitted CBI investigations within their jurisdictions were directed to allow such inquiries in digital arrest cases.

The amicus curiae had noted that there were three broad categories of cybercrime: digital arrest, investment fraud, and fake job scams. The court had also observed that in such offences, victims are often induced to invest large sums of money.

On October 17, 2025, the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the rising number of digital arrest incidents and issued notices to the central government and the CBI. It had said that forging Supreme Court and High Court orders, along with judges’ signatures, to carry out digital arrest scams amounted to a direct assault on public trust in judicial institutions.

The court had taken note of a case involving an elderly couple from Ambala who were digitally “arrested” and cheated out of more than Rs 1 crore. The couple had written to then Chief Justice B. R. Gavai describing the fraud. The court said the matter was not an isolated incident and that several reports had already appeared in the media. It stressed the need for coordination between central and state police forces to uncover criminal acts involving forged judicial documents, extortion and looting, especially against innocent people and senior citizens.

According to the couple’s letter, a forged court order stamped to show their alleged arrest and surveillance between September 3 and September 16 was produced, after which they were defrauded of over Rs 1 crore through multiple bank transactions. The elderly woman said some individuals had shown them court orders through audio and video calls.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar