Petition in Supreme Court for expert committee to combat cyber fraud

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A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court to establish an expert committee overseen by the sitting or retired judges of the apex court to examine potential measures in order to control cyber fraud, the ANI reported.

According to ANI, the petition filed by advocate Pradeep Kumar Yadav cited various incidents where the judges themselves were allegedly the victims of cyber crime.

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According to a news article mentioned in the petition, retired Chief Justice of India RM Lodha was defrauded of Rs 1 lakh in 2019 after retrieving emails from a different senior Supreme Court judge's account requesting "emergency funds."

Another incident mentioned in the petition was when a scammer posing as the current Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, wrote that he was heading for an important meeting at Collegium but was stuck in Connaught Place and was in need of Rs 500 and promised to return that money, ANI reported.

The petition also stated that another incident that occurred earlier this month when a cybercrime gang posed as officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), staged a false virtual courtroom with documents closely resembling original ones and one of them impersonating the CJI duped Vardhman Group head SP Oswal of Rs 7 crore.

The petition further stated that Ramesh Devkinandan Dhanuka, retired Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court had lodged an FIR in 2023 with the Colaba police saying that an unidentified person sent him a message asking to update his pan card details, and upon opening the link and submitting the details, Rs 49,998 was drawn out of his bank account.

In 2023, another cyber fraud came to light for misusing the identity of Karnataka High Court judge Justice G Narendra.

The petitioner claimed that because he was getting calls from several mobile numbers and was getting OTPs from scammers, he was going to become a victim of cyber fraud. A criminal complaint was filed in this regard at the Tilak Marg police station on August 16, 2024.

In the plea, a suitable framework to address the legal voids and widespread concerns raised by India's relentless surge in cybercrime was requested.

The PIL said, "In today's interconnected digital landscape, the prevalence of cybercrime has reached unprecedented levels, posing significant threats to individuals, businesses and nations alike. As technology advances, so do the tactics employed by the cybercriminals, ranging from sophisticated hacking and ransomware attacks to identify theft and online fraud."

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports that from 21,796 occurrences in 2017 to 27,248 incidents in 2018, there was a notable increase in cybercrime cases. In response to this trend, the NCRB began categorising crimes against women and children separately starting in 2017, noted the petition.

"There needs to be an we have a legal framework in the name of Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, which needs to be strengthened by expanding the definitions of cybercrimes and enhancing the legal framework for cybersecurity. This should hold intermediaries responsible for content and data hosted on their platforms, compelling them to adhere to stringent data protection measures," the petition said.

The central government, through the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, are made party in the petition, ANI reported.

(With inputs from ANI)