A bench headed by Chief Justice Suryakant expressed concern over the scale of such frauds and the large sums of money being siphoned out of the country through these crimes. The court observed that scams involving fake court orders and misuse of the judiciary’s name strike at the very foundation of public trust in institutions.

During the hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani informed the court that the central government would convene an inter-ministerial meeting involving all relevant agencies to evolve a coordinated strategy to deal with digital arrest cases. The court said concrete steps were needed not only to prevent such frauds but also to ensure relief for victims.

Senior advocate N.S. Nappinai, appointed as an assisting counsel, suggested that India consider a structured compensation framework similar to the United Kingdom’s system, where banks are mandated to refund victims in Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams.

The case pertains to an elderly couple from Haryana who alleged that fraudsters impersonating police and court officials digitally “detained” them through video calls, showed fabricated warrants, and coerced them into transferring their entire savings.

The Supreme Court has earlier directed the CBI to conduct a nationwide, coordinated investigation into digital arrest cases. It has also questioned the Reserve Bank of India on why advanced tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning are not being fully deployed to detect and freeze suspicious or mule accounts at an early stage.

The court has instructed states and Union Territories to set up cyber crime coordination centres and directed banks, telecom companies and digital platforms to extend full cooperation to investigating agencies. It also warned that bank officials found complicit in facilitating such frauds would face strict action under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The matter will be reviewed after the Centre submits details of the proposed inter-agency measures.