NEW DELHI, October 28 (Aalimi Nation) – The Supreme Court on Wednesday described digital arrest scams as "digital dacoity" and said offenders must be dealt with in the harshest manner, as it declined to entertain a plea seeking consolidation of FIRs registered across the country. The petition was dismissed as withdrawn.
The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana was hearing a petition titled Gourab Kumar Saha and another versus Union of India and others, which asked that pan-India FIRs over alleged cyber offences, including digital arrest, be clubbed.
What the petitioner argued
The petitioner told the Court that the allegations involved Rs 80 lakh in one bank account and Rs 1.2 crore in another. He said a chargesheet had been filed and that two agencies were investigating the same offence. He also said his account had been used as a so-called mule account without his knowledge and that he had lodged a complaint as a victim.
Remarks from the bench
The Chief Justice described the offence as "prima facie digital dacoity". "Given a chance, we will not allow an accused of a digital arrest to be released on bail by any court," he said. He added that if the law has any scope to punish such offenders before trial, "that must also be adopted".
Justice Bagchi asked: "Where does the convenience lie?" and questioned whether victims should be dragged to Delhi. He also said the petitioners were being used "as a foot soldier to derail investigations across the country".
These were oral observations made during the hearing. The Court did not record them as findings, and no formal direction on the merits was issued.
What the Court did
The bench indicated that the Delhi cases, which are being investigated by the Mandir Marg police station, could be taken up for aggregation by the Delhi High Court. The petitioners then withdrew the plea, and the Court dismissed it as withdrawn.
In a digital arrest scam, fraudsters pose as law enforcement or investigators, usually over video calls, and pressure victims into transferring money by claiming they are under investigation. Senior citizens are frequently targeted. The Supreme Court has been hearing the problem on its own motion since October 2025.
Mule accounts, which are used to receive and move the proceeds of fraud, have been a recurring concern for investigators. The remarks on Wednesday show how strongly the top court views the offence, although bail decisions in individual cases will still depend on the facts before the judges hearing them.
The petitioners can approach the Delhi High Court on aggregating the Delhi cases, as the bench indicated. The other FIRs will proceed before the agencies and courts handling them. Because the Chief Justice's remarks were oral, a written order on bail would be needed before they could bind lower courts.
