Supreme Court to hear digital arrest scam case next week

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear next week a suo motu case concerning victims of “digital arrest” scams, a rapidly growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters impersonate law enforcement or government officials to extort money.

The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi by Attorney General R. Venkataramani.

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Venkataramani told the court that he would place a status report during the day and urged the bench to take up the matter next week, saying steps were being taken in the case. The bench agreed to list the matter next week or at the earliest.

Digital arrest scams involve fraudsters posing as police officers, court officials or personnel from government agencies through audio and video calls, intimidating victims and coercing them to transfer money.

On February 9, the top court described the siphoning of more than Rs 54,000 crore through such digital frauds as “robbery or dacoity” and directed the Centre to draft a standard operating procedure (SoP) in consultation with stakeholders including the Reserve Bank of India, banks and the Department of Telecommunications to tackle the menace.

The court had also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to identify digital arrest cases and asked the Delhi and Gujarat governments to grant sanction for the federal agency to investigate them.

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It further asked the RBI, DoT and other authorities to work out a framework for compensating victims, noting that a pragmatic and liberal approach would be required.

The attorney general had earlier informed the court that the RBI has drafted an SoP for banks that includes provisions for placing temporary debit holds on suspicious accounts to prevent cyber-enabled fraud.

The bench also asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to formally adopt the RBI’s SoP and ensure its implementation nationwide.

(With inputs from agencies)