The Supreme Court has handed over the investigation into the nationwide ‘digital arrest’ scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), granting the agency sweeping powers to probe what it described as a crime of alarming scale and sophistication. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on December 1 said the CBI would be the first and primary agency to investigate all cases related to the scam, which involves fraudsters impersonating officials, coercing victims — often senior citizens — into digitally staged “arrests,” and extorting money.
In a significant move, the court empowered the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) to examine the complicity of bankers who facilitated the opening of accounts used in these frauds. It also issued a notice to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), making it a party to the suo motu proceedings.
The Bench asked the RBI to assist in determining timelines for deploying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools to detect suspicious bank accounts and automatically freeze proceeds of crime. It further directed that all authorities must comply with CBI requests under the IT Intermediary Rules, 2021.
The Bench said the states that have not granted general consent to the CBI must permit the agency to investigate IT Act cases in their jurisdiction so that nationwide operations are not hindered.
The CBI may seek assistance from Interpol wherever required, it said. The court directed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to submit a proposal on regulating the issuance of SIM cards and multiple SIMs under a single identity to prevent misuse.
It said the state governments must expedite the setting up of cybercrime centres and report any bottlenecks to the court.
“Authorities must preserve mobile phone data from all devices seized in cybercrime-related FIRs. All states and Union Territories must hand over FIRs registered under the IT Act, 2021, related to the digital arrest scam, to the CBI,” the court said.
The Bench noted that after the court took suo motu cognisance of the matter, several victims came forward seeking action, and numerous FIRs were filed across states, underscoring the severity of the scam. The CJI observed, “The gravity and scale of the crime can be gauged from the fact that in most states, senior citizens have been targeted by fraudsters using various methods. Every cybercrime case, especially those involving senior citizens, needs a thorough investigation. But the digital arrest scam demands immediate attention from the country’s premier investigating agency.” The matter will be heard next in two weeks.
