The Rajasthan High Court has sought a response from the Central and State governments regarding the growing incidents of cyber crimes and digital arrests, which have impacted countless innocent individuals.
During the hearing, Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court M.M. Shrivastava revealed that he himself had a close call with becoming a victim of a digital arrest.
“I also narrowly escaped being a victim of digital arrest. Once, I received such a call and, realizing it was fake, I immediately handed over my mobile to the registrar, who dealt with the caller,” the Chief Justice said in a verbal comment.
The High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the issue in January 2024, citing a sharp rise in digital arrest cases and online financial frauds targeting people across the country.
On Monday, while hearing the case, a division bench of Chief Justice M.M. Shrivastava and Justice Manish Sharma sought responses from the Central and State governments. The bench emphasized the urgent need to protect common citizens from such crimes and called for concrete action, noting that people from nearly every profession are falling prey to digital arrests and cyber fraud.
The court observed that thousands of innocent people have lost their hard-earned money, and in some tragic cases, victims have taken extreme steps, including suicide.
The bench also directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government's grievance redressal committee to develop a robust system to protect citizens from such frauds—whether they occur through websites, portals, or mobile phones.
