Supreme Court takes suo motu notice of digital arrest scams, issues directions to Centre, Haryana, CBI
The SC called for responses from the Central government and the CBI in a suo motu case concerning the surge in ‘digital arrest scams’ nationwide. The SC was also informed that two FIRs had been registered with the Ambala Cyber Crime Department under various sections of BNS
On Friday, the Supreme Court called for responses from the Central government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a suo motu case concerning the surge in ‘digital arrest scams’ across the country. A Bench led by Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi voiced shock over fraudsters frequently using forged court orders to deceive individuals into handing over money, according to BarandBench.
It requested assistance from the Attorney General and instructed the Haryana government along with the Ambala Cyber Crime Department to submit a status report on the investigation conducted so far in the case involving the senior citizen couple in Ambala who faced the digital arrest.
What did the court say?
"The fabrication of judicial orders bearing forged signatures of judges strikes at the very foundation of the public trust in the judicial system besides the rule of law. Such action constituted direct assault on the dignity of the institution," the apex court observed, a report by PTI noted.
It further stated that this serious criminal act should not be treated as a mere or isolated case of cheating or cyber crime.
"We are also inclined to take judicial notice of the fact that the instance case is not the sole instance. It has been largely reported many times in the media that such crimes have taken place in different parts of the country. We are, therefore, of the view that action and coordinated efforts between the central and state police are required to unearth the full extent of the criminal enterprise involving forging judicial documents, extortion/robbery of innocent people most importantly the senior citizens," the bench added.
How was the matter brought to court's notice?
The matter was brought to the court's attention by the complainant, a woman who claimed that fraudsters created a fake court order, complete with a forged stamp and seal, authorising the arrest and surveillance of the elderly couple between September 3 and 16, in an attempt to scam over ₹1 crore through multiple bank transactions.
She stated that the court orders were presented via numerous audio and video calls by individuals posing as officers from the CBI and ED, threatening to arrest the couple.
The SC was also informed that two FIRs had been registered with the Ambala Cyber Crime Department under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
(With inputs from PTI)