SC To Hear Suo Motu Case On ‘Digital Arrest’ Scam Next Week

NEW DELHI, Mar 16: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear next week a suo motu case concerning victims of “digital arrest”, a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters impersonate officials to extort money.

The issue was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi by Attorney General R. Venkataramani, who said a status report would be placed before the court.

Venkataramani told the bench that developments were taking place in the matter and requested that the case, which was listed for hearing on Monday, be taken up next week. The bench agreed to list the matter next week or at the earliest.

Digital arrest scams involve fraudsters posing as law enforcement officers, court officials or government personnel and intimidating victims through audio or video calls, often holding them virtually hostage and pressuring them to transfer money.

On February 9, the apex court had expressed serious concern over the menace of such scams and described the siphoning of more than Rs 54,000 crore through digital frauds as “robbery or dacoity”.

The court had asked the Centre to frame a standard operating procedure (SoP) in consultation with stakeholders such as the Reserve Bank of India, banks and the Department of Telecommunications to deal with such cases.

It also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to identify digital arrest cases and asked the governments of Gujarat and Delhi to grant sanction for the federal agency to proceed with investigations.

The apex court further asked the RBI, the Department of Telecommunications and other authorities to hold a joint meeting to develop a framework for compensation to victims of digital arrest scams.

Observing that a pragmatic and liberal approach was needed in awarding compensation, the court asked authorities to file fresh status reports before the next hearing.

The attorney general had earlier informed the bench that the RBI had drafted an SoP for banks which includes provisions for placing temporary debit holds to prevent cyber-enabled frauds.

Issuing further directions, the bench asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to formally adopt the RBI’s SoP and ensure its implementation across the country.

Earlier, on December 1, the Supreme Court had also asked the CBI to conduct a unified pan-India probe into digital arrest cases and sought an explanation from the RBI on why artificial intelligence was not being used to trace and freeze bank accounts used by cyber criminals. (Agencies)