SC calls cyber fraudsters 'parasites', denies accused relief

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea filed by an alleged cybercriminal accused of laundering investors' money.

Declining to hear the petition filed by Manoj Kumar Singh against the Bihar government and others, a bench led by CJI Surya Kant orally described such fraudsters as "parasites" who prey on innocent investors. "You take money from investors and dupe them. We have to be harsh on cybercriminals. Society's interest is only that you are behind bars. Such crimes are always pan-India. Take money from someone in Gujarat, then Mumbai and so on," the bench orally remarked.

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Dismissing the plea, the bench directed Singh to approach the high court for relief. In November, justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi barred all courts from granting bail to a group of men accused of defrauding a 72-year-old advocate of ₹3.29 crore through a digital arrest scam, saying the situation warranted "unusual orders".

A bench led by CJI Kant is already hearing a matter related to the growing menace. It initiated suo motu proceedings in October. The case arose from a complaint by a 73-year-old woman from Ambala who alleged that scammers used forged SC orders to place her under a so-called digital arrest and extort more than ₹1 crore.