Supreme Court to deal with digital arrest cases with an iron hand

Expressing shock over the scale of digital arrest cases in which cyber criminals allegedly extorted over Rs 3000 crore from victims, including senior citizens, in India, the Supreme Court on Monday asserted that it will deal with such cases with an iron hand.

"It’s shocking that almost Rs 3,000 crore has been collected from the victims, including senior citizens. And this is just in our country. If we don’t pass harsh and stringent orders, the problem will magnify…We have to strengthen the hands of our agencies through judicial orders. We are determined to deal with these crimes with iron hands," a Bench led by Justice Surya Kant said.

The Bench also decided to appoint amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.

Maintaining that it would not hesitate in issuing strong directives, if necessary, the Bench warned that unchecked digital frauds could erode public confidence in digital governance and law-enforcement systems.

The top court’s comments came after it perused a sealed cover report submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the CBI.

"A separate unit in the MHA is coordinating and several steps are being taken," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Bench which posted the matter for November 10.

“Especially the victims are elderly people…That’s the most pathetic aspect,” Mehta told the Bench.

On October 27, the Supreme Court had asked all states and union territories to furnish details of digital arrest cases registered by them to probe such scams carried out through forged court orders and impersonation of police and judicial officers.

Taking note of the magnitude and pan-India spread of such crimes, it had hinted at a CBI probe in the matter.

The Bench had taken suo motu cognisance of a shocking case of digital arrest of an elderly couple in Ambala, Haryana, on the basis of forged orders of the top court and probe agencies by fraudsters to extort more than Rs 1.05 crore. It had requested Attorney General R Venkataramani to assist it in the matter.

The top court had registered a suo motu petition after a 73-year-old woman wrote to CJI BR Gavai on September 21 saying she and her husband were defrauded by using false and forged judicial orders.

She alleged that scamsters produced a forged court order with stamp and seal for arrest and surveillance of the couple between September 3 and 16, 2025 to force them to part with over Rs 1.05 crore through multiple bank transactions.

The Ambala woman said the court orders, ED freeze order and arrest order under PMLA and a surveillance order were shown to her and her husband through multiple audio and video calls by people impersonating as CBI, ED and judicial officers to arrest them.

Informing the Bench that more FIRs had been registered over similar crimes, the Haryana Government counsel sought time to file details about the same.

In its October 17 order, the top court had noted, “The forgery of documents and the brazen criminal misuse of the name, seal, and judicial authority of this court or a High Court is a matter of grave concern. The fabrication of judicial orders bearing forged signatures of judges strikes at the very foundation of public trust in the judicial system, besides the rule of law.”

“Such acts constitute a direct assault on the dignity and majesty of this institution; therefore, such grave criminal acts cannot be treated as ordinary or routine offences of cheating or cybercrime,” it had said.

“Ordinarily we would have directed the state police to expedite the investigation and take it to a logical conclusion. We are, however, aghast at the fact that the fraudsters have fabricated judicial orders in the name of the Supreme Court and various other documents,” it had said.