THE SUPREME COURT TODAY issued notices to all States and Union Territories seeking details of investigations and pending cases linked to the growing menace of ‘digital arrest’ scams, in which cybercriminals impersonate police, enforcement, or judicial officials to extort money from citizens under the threat of arrest and property seizure.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked all States to furnish the number of such cases currently under probe and posted the matter for further hearing on November 3.
The Court also indicated that it may consider handing over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (‘CBI’) to ensure a coordinated pan-India probe.
“Please find out whether the CBI has the resources to handle all the cases,” the Bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Union and informed the Court that the CBI was already investigating a few such instances.
The bench said that it was looking at a uniform probe across the country, but will not issue any direction today without hearing from the States.
The top Court had, on October 17, 2025, taken suo motu cognisance of a complaint filed by a senior citizen couple from Ambala, Haryana, who were defrauded of ₹1.05 crore between September 3 and 16, 2025. The victims were reportedly contacted by fraudsters posing as officials of the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and even the Supreme Court, who showed forged judicial orders via video calls and WhatsApp messages to threaten them with arrest and seizure of property unless they transferred funds.
The victims had registered two FIRs at the Cyber Crime Branch, Ambala, invoking provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, revealing what the Court described as “organised criminal activities targeting senior citizens.”
In its October 17, 2025, order, the Court had expressed shock at the fabrication of Supreme Court orders and forged judicial signatures, terming it “a direct assault on the dignity and majesty of this institution.” It observed that such acts “strike at the very foundation of public trust in the judicial system and the rule of law.”
The October 17 order read:
“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.”
The Bench had also noted that the Ambala case was not an isolated instance, referring to multiple media reports of similar scams across India. “A stern action on Pan India basis with coordinated efforts between the Central and State Police are required to unearth the full extent of this criminal enterprise involving forgery of judicial documents, cyber extortion and cyber arrest of the innocent people, especially the senior citizens.,” the Court had observed while issuing notices to the Union of India, the CBI, the State of Haryana, and the Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime), Ambala.
The Court will next review the States’ responses and the Centre’s update on the feasibility of a unified national investigation when the matter is taken up on November 3.
