In a major step to tackle rising cyber fraud, the Supreme Court has issued a series of nationwide directions, asking the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within 4 weeks for freezing all mule accounts linked to cyber-related offences, including accounts used in digital arrest scams and extortion.
The directions were issued by a Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana during suo motu proceedings initiated last year after receiving letter petitions and public interest litigations over the increasing number of digital arrest scams.
The apex court also directed the Centre, States, and Union Territories (UTs) to operationalise grievance redressal and money restoration modules, along with the e-Zero FIR registration system. The move aims to ensure that complaints related to cyber fraud are registered immediately without waiting for jurisdictional police officers to file an FIR.
The court further instructed States and UTs to widely publicise the grievance redressal and money restoration modules, which will function under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
In addition, the Registrars General of High Courts across the country have been directed to place these measures before their respective High Courts and other adjudicating authorities handling bank account freezing cases related to cyber fraud. The objective is to ensure faster and more effective disposal of such matters.
The Supreme Court also emphasised that all concerned authorities must take prompt steps to ensure the speedy resolution of cases involving frozen bank accounts linked to cyber-related financial fraud.
Further, the court directed the inter-departmental committee constituted by the Union government to hold regular consultations with officials from the RBI, banks, and other intermediaries. The committee will focus on strengthening technological measures to prevent digital arrest scams, improve the recovery of defrauded funds, speed up investigations, and develop a shared liability and victim compensation framework.
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