Senior Citizen Who Lost Rs 22.92 Crores In Digital Arrest Scam Moves Supreme Court Seeking Preventive Guidelines & Restitution

The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice in the matter.

Sr Adv K Parameshwar, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the incident happened when the petitioner's children were abroad. He stressed that this was a case of 'gross negligence' by the banks involved, and that the petitioner was contemplating approaching the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against the banks.

“There is some duty that these banks also owe, he comes on a wheelchair , he is almost 82 years old,” the senior counsel submitted. He stated that the banks should also show alertness when such a large transaction is detecetd.

Stressing at prayer F of the plea, he urged the court to issue directions to identify the mule accounts used by the fraudsters.

Prayer F states : “Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Reserve Bank of India to direct the collecting banks to identify the account holders/operators of mule accounts used in conducting the fraudulent transactions and ensure refund of the amounts fraudulent transferred from the Applicants accounts;”

The bench issued notice in the matter except prayers B, C and D, for which he was allowed to approach the concerned conusmer forum.

Notably, the said specific prayers seek directions to the banks involved to deposit the defrauded amount of ₹22.92 crores in an escrow account to be released in favour of the petitioner. He has arrayed the Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Indus Ind Bank, City Union Bank, Yes Bank as respondents.

According to the writ petition, the Petitioner, who is a senior citizen and lives alone, was targeted by fraudsters who impersonated law enforcement authorities and shared forged orders purportedly issued by the Supreme Court via WhatsApp messages and video conferencing calls.

The petitioner claims that under continuous threats of arrest and seizure of property, and relying on the authenticity of the forged judicial documents, he was coerced into transferring his entire life savings through multiple bank transactions to the fraudsters.

In these circumstances, the petitioner has sought a writ of mandamus directing the Union of India to frame and implement a uniform national policy to prevent and respond to digital-arrest scams, ensuring coordinated action among the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and cybercrime agencies.

The other slew of directions sought by the petitioner are :

1. uniform national policy for preventing and responding to digital- arrest scams, ensuring coordinated action between RBI, MHA and cybercrime agencies;
2. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Reserve Bank of India to ensure strict compliance by all banks with the Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management, KYC Directions, and Customer Protection Circular; to establish a real- time national system for fraud detection and inter-bank fund freezing; and to identify and block mule accounts used for digital-arrest scams;(f) (g) (h) (i) 25
3. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Reserve Bank of India to direct the collecting banks to identify the account holders/operators of mule accounts used in conducting the fraudulent transactions and ensure refund of the amounts fraudulent transferred from the Applicants accounts;
4. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to Ministry of Finance to oversee and enforce effective financial- regulatory safeguards across all banks and financial institutions; to ensure strict monitoring of high-risk transactions; to mandate immediate reporting and blocking of suspicious digital transfers; and to coordinate with RBI for a unified national mechanism to curb financial laundering through mule accounts;
5. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to ministry of telecommunication to implement compulsory telecom-based fraud warnings, regulate and identify scam-linked numbers, and establish a real-time communication-channel blocking mechanism for digital-arrest fraud operations;
6. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Central Bureau of Investigation to takeover the investigation into FIR No. 85/2025 from the State of NCT of Delhi and direct the CBI to conduct a swift, effective, and time-bound investigation, ensure immediate freezing and recovery of diverted funds, trace the mule networks, and coordinate with central agencies for dismantling the fraud syndicate;(j) (k) 26
7. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus exempting the Applicant from capital gains tax liability to the extent that the same would be in relation to the funds generated from sale of securities, which were further fraudulently transferred from his bank a/c on account of fraud;

It may be noted that the Supreme Court, last year, after taking suo motu cognisance of recurring instances of digital arrests scams, asked the CBI to investigate those cases. A committee was also formed under the Union Government to explore preventive measures and victim compensation.

The plea has been filed with the assistance of AOR Abhinav Agrawal.

Case details : Naresh Malhotra V. Union Of India& Ors.| W.P.(Crl.) No. 15/2026