The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the rising menace of cybercrime, particularly “digital arrests”, describing the siphoning of over ₹54,000 crore through digital frauds as “absolute robbery or dacoity,” and issued a slew of directions aimed at systemic reform.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria, said the scale of these frauds surpasses the budgets of many small Indian states. The bench observed that such large-scale offences may be taking place due to “either collusion by or the negligence of bank officials,” and pressed for timely action from both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and banks to curb the trend.
The top court directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to draft a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) in consultation with stakeholders including the RBI, banks, and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to tackle digital fraud and digital arrest scams.
The Court noted that the RBI has already prepared an SOP that enables banks to take preventive steps, such as temporarily freezing debit cards in suspected cyber fraud cases. The MHA was asked to consider this and similar SOPs issued by the DoT and prepare a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) within four weeks to address such cases efficiently.
The bench also called for a joint framework by the RBI, DoT, and other stakeholders for providing compensation to victims of digital arrests. It stressed that the approach in awarding compensation must be “pragmatic and liberal.”
The Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to identify cases of digital arrest and proceed with investigations. The governments of Delhi and Gujarat were specifically asked to grant necessary sanctions to the agency to probe such cases.
In an earlier hearing on December 16, 2025, the Court had voiced concern over the alarming outflow of money from India via digital fraud and asked the Centre to consider the amicus curiae’s suggestions regarding compensation mechanisms for victims.
The Court had also asked on December 1, 2025, why the RBI was not using artificial intelligence tools to trace and freeze bank accounts used by cybercriminals. It had ordered a unified, pan-India probe by the CBI into these cases.
The Court reiterated the growing concern over “digital arrest”, a form of cybercrime in which scammers impersonate police officers, court staff, or government officials through audio or video calls. Victims are threatened with arrest, held hostage digitally, and coerced into transferring large sums of money.
The matter has been posted for further hearing after four weeks, with the Court directing all authorities concerned to file updated status reports by then.
