The Supreme Court on Monday (December 1, 2025) tasked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to crack down on ‘digital arrest’ scammers and their associates, giving the agency a “free hand” to even launch an anti-corruption probe into the role of banks where mule accounts linked to cybercrimes are found.
A Bench of the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi found “enough was enough”, and that the ‘digital arrest’ scams required the immediate attention of the CBI. A note given by the Union government in the Supreme Court showed that ₹3,000 crore had already been scammed by fraudsters from victims, mostly drawn from the elderly population, through ‘digital arrests’.
Compound effect: The Hindu editorial on digital arrest scams
The Supreme Court directly ordering the CBI, overriding State consent, to conduct a pan-India investigation in hunting down scammers, is an extraordinary step. The court cannot order a CBI probe, except when compelled by exceptional circumstances. States, including Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, among others, have been directed to accord consent to the CBI under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act for investigation in their jurisdictions.
