The Central government has filed a status report in the Supreme Court on the rising number of digital arrest scams in the country. It informed the court that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a high-level interdepartmental committee headed by the Special Secretary (Internal Security), MHA, to address concerns related to digital arrests.
The committee has sought a one-month extension from the apex court to draft an action plan based on the recommendations. During the month, the committee aims to consult all the members and collect their input. It will consolidate all the data and formulate an action plan to be presented before the court.
Key members of the MHA committee
The members include joint secretaries level officers of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), External Affairs Ministry (MEA), Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Law & Justice, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, RBI, IG rank officers from CBI, NIA, Delhi Police, and member secretary Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.
Hearing in SC
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear today the suo motu cognisance it took of some of the complaints on digital arrests. On 01 December 2025, the court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the matter.
The SC bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant passed the order insisting that the digital arrest scams demand immediate attention of the investigating agency.
Strengthening the reach of CBI, the CJI ordered that CBI shall have free hand to investigate the role of bankers under PCA where bank accounts are opened for such digital arrest scams. It issued a notice to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to help the apex court know when artificial intelligence/machine learning is implemented to identify such accounts and freeze such proceeds of crime.